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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 physicians 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: grave muscle weakness, MG
Myasthenia gravis is an uncommon chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease in children of all ages, ethnicities and genders. MG is characterized by muscle weakness of varying degree in many different areas of the body, it commonly affects the eyes, mouth, throat, arms and legs. MG tends to get worse during activity and improves after rest. There are 3 types of myasthenia gravis in children:
Transient Neonatal MG, a temporary form of MG that occurs in babies born to mothers with MG.
Juvenile MG, a lifelong autoimmune disorder that frequently occurs in white teenage girls.
Congenital MG, a very rare form which starts at birth, is lifelong, is not an autoimmune disease but is inherited from an abnormal gene received from each parent.
What causes the autoimmune disorder to occur, is unknown.
In Transient Neonatal MG, babies have muscle weakness, difficulty sucking, or breathing which may require artificial mechanical breathing help. Transient Neonatal MG tends to improve over weeks to months as the mother's antibodies disappear normally over time.
Juvenile MG tends to start slowly over weeks. Typical signs include infants becoming tired after very little activity, or having difficulty chewing or swallowing. Droopy eyelids may be noted and all symptoms tend to be less in the morning and get worse as the day wears on.
Congenital MG presents with muscle weakness usually noted at or soon after birth, with delays in sitting, crawling or walking. There may be difficulty with swallowing and/or breathing with poor head control and droopy eyelids.
Transient Neonatal MG will improve over time and may or may not (depending on severity of symptoms) require treatment. While no cure exists for the other forms of MG, the following are available to optimize your child’s health:
Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP
This page was last updated on: April 01, 2021 09:36 AM
HFV is a form of mechanical ventilation that is only used in rare instances when extra protection is needed for the lungs. It involves a high delivery of gas to accommodate rapid respiratory rates. Learn more