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Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has several outpatient and urgent care centers throughout South Florida, including on-demand, virtual care.
Walk-in urgent care with no appointment needed.
Serving as your child's primary doctor's office.
Pediatric specialty consultations available closer to home.
A full range of comprehensive services all under one roof.
Connect with providers from the comfort of your own home.
With over 800 pediatric clinicians on staff, we’re dedicated to helping you connect with the right specialist for your needs.
We have expertise in treating children and educating families on hundreds of different conditions.
We use cutting-edge, specialized treatments and procedures to ensure the best care for your child.
Also known as: meningoencephalocele, cephalocele.
An encephalocele is a rare disorder (neural tube defect) where the bones of a fetus’s skull (anywhere from the nose to the back of the head) do not close all the way resulting in a space through which the tissues surrounding the brain (cerebrospinal fluid and meninges) and brain tissue itself bulges.
A meningocele is like an encephalocele but only contains the cerebrospinal fluid and meninges and the sac protrudes from the spinal column.
Encephaloceles are usually found after birth and while some may be quite small, if large they may be life threatening.
Babies may be born with:
Meningoceles are typically diagnosed before birth.
Reviewed by: John Ragheb, MD
This page was last updated on: March 30, 2023 03:50 PM
The Fetal Care Service team offers support to families expecting an infant with medical needs that require intervention at birth. We provide comprehensive, coordinated care from prenatal diagnosis to the transition to infant care.
When a newborn baby or an infant's head is found to be much smaller than normal for its age, the condition is known as microcephaly.
A myelomeningocele is a bulge or sac of the fluid that surround the spinal cord. Spina bifida refers to the specific gap in the bony spinal column that protects the spinal cord.