What is a muscle biopsy?
A muscle biopsy is obtaining a sample muscle tissue for diagnostic purposes. Which muscles are usually biopsied? It depends on: • Hand dominance – Most people are right-handed, and so a muscle biopsy is usually performed in the nondominant left side to avoid impacting their ability to use their dominant side. • The suspected disease – If the disorder is acute, a weak muscle is selected for a biopsy. If the disease is chronic, a very weak muscle may show replacement of the muscle tissue with fat, and biopsy of that muscle will not be very informative. In these situations, a moderately effected muscle will be chosen. On the other hand, in diseases that affect motor neurons such as Lou Gherig disease, a strong muscle is chosen to demonstrate histological evidence of denervation. Biceps muscle in the arm and quadriceps muscle in the leg are most commonly used to a muscle biopsy because they are accessible, and their normal histology is well characterized. However, other muscles such as del
