Since these procedures involve the handling of fresh, unfixed human tissue, precautions must be taken to minimise the risk of infection with HIV, hepatitis B and other agents. NCV A copy of the standardised muscle biopsy request form can be found here . The muscle with maximal clinical signs should NOT be selected since it would likely produce an uninformative 'end-stage' biopsy comprising mainly fat and connective tissue.
Muscles showing minimum clinical signs are helpful in elucidating pathological aetiology.
Tibialis anterior Top of Page Open muscle biopsy Open biopsies are carried out under general anaesthetic using sterile technique. Disadvantages Scarring General anaesthetic on patient Inconvenient for repeats Costs Top of Page . The prefered method nowadays. Other methods include the use of a Conchotome biopsy needle . Top of Page Specimen handling Specimens should be dealt with by an experienced member of the laboratory staff.