Syndrome of muscle weakness and myalgia in pediatric practice on clinical examples

The article presents data on the main causes of muscle weakness in children and discusses the clinical features of diseases that may be accompanied by muscle weakness. Emphasis is placed on the possibilities of differential diagnosis of muscle weakness syndrome in children through the use of various methods of examination. The algorithm of differential diagnostic search at muscular weakness is offered. The possibility of its application in pediatric practice is demonstrated on clinical examples. Despite certain common features in the onset of the disease in the presented cases, a detailed examination makes it possible to distinguish between congenital and acquired causes of muscle damage and refer the patient for appropriate treatment. It should be noted that muscle weakness is a fairly common symptom in a child. More often it is not associated with damage to the muscles themselves. The causes of chronic weakness differ significantly in children of all ages. In a child with clinical signs of muscle weakness, it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination, aimed primarily at excluding various serious diseases. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors. Key words: children, muscle weakness, differential diagnosis.