Ultrastructural findings of uraemic muscular damage: functional implications

The ultrastructure (US) of the skeletal muscle from 10 patients on conservative treatment (PCT) and 10 haemodialysed patients (HP) was studied. The two groups exhibited no qualitative differences but quantitative alterations of the mitochondrial apparatus and capillary vessels were more impressive in the HP group. Disarray and loss of the myofibrillar sarcoplasm was the most obvious change in the uraemic muscle. The US findings are consistent with a neurogenic atrophy of the uraemic skeletal muscle but other features indicate a primary myopathic damage probably caused by a deficit of muscle microcirculation and by changes in the mitochondrial respiratory chain.