Muscle biopsy

Muscle biopsy is required to provide a definitive diagnosis in many neuromuscular disorders. It can be performed through an open or needle technique under local anesthesia. The major limitations of the needle biopsy technique are the sample size, which is smaller than that obtained with open biopsy, and the impossibility of direct visualization of the sampling site. However, needle biopsy is a less invasive procedure than open biopsy and is particularly indicated for diagnosis of neuromuscular disease in infancy and childhood. The biopsied muscle should be one affected by the disease but not be too weak or too atrophic. Usually, in case of proximal muscle involvement, the quadriceps and the biceps are biopsied, while under suspicion of mitochondrial disorder, the deltoid is preferred. The samples must be immediately frozen or fixed after excision to prevent loss of enzymatic reactivity, DNA depletion or RNA degradation. A battery of stainings is performed on muscle sections from every frozen muscle biopsy arriving in the pathology laboratory. Histological, histochemical, and histoenzymatic stainings are performed to evaluate fiber atrophy, morphological, and structural changes and metabolic disorders. Moreover, immunohistochemistry and Western blotting analysis may be used for expression analysis of muscle proteins to obtain a specific diagnosis. There are myopathies that do not need muscle biopsy since a genetic test performed on a blood sample is enough for definitive diagnosis. Muscle biopsy is a useful technique which can make an enormous contribution in the field of neuromuscular disorders but should be considered and interpreted together with the patient's family and clinical history.