Percutaneous muscle biopsy in the diagnosis of neuromuscular disease

Open biopsy of affected muscle is traditionally used to obtain tissue samples for histologic, histochemical, and biochemical analysis in patients with suspected myopathies. Percutaneous muscle biopsy offers certain advantages over the open technique: it can be performed in an outpatient clinic or as day surgery, usually with a local anesthetic for children greater than 12 years of age, and thus is less costly, more efficient, and less risky. There is also a significant difference in the residual scar. We reviewed the charts of 379 children and adults who had undergone percutaneous muscle biopsy to determine the usefulness of this alternative technique. The analysis could be accurately performed even though the muscle tissue was not at resting length and not oriented in any particular manner, and in nearly all patients sufficient tissue could be obtained for analysis without open biopsy.