Abstract
It is usually not difficult to decide whether a muscle biopsy is normal or abnormal. Minor abnormalities such as slight changes in fibre size, or a slight increase in central nucleation, which may only be recognized by morphometric and statistical analysis, are not generally important in diagnosis, unless they are accompanied by other, more obvious changes. However, in some conditions, such as McArdle’s disease, the routine histological and enzyme histochemical techniques may not reveal any striking abnormality, the diagnosis being recognized only when special techniques are applied. It is not appropriate, or economic, to try to investigate every biopsy with a complete range of histochemical techniques. A decision as to how far to pursue the investigation must be made on the basis of clinical information and the results of laboratory tests, in addition to the findings on the routine histological and enzyme histological methods. Histological abnormalities almost invariably accompany weakness.
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Swash, M., Schwartz, M.S. (1984). Histological features of myopathic and neurogenic disorders. In: Biopsy Pathology of Muscle. Biopsy Pathology Series. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3402-4_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3402-4_4
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