Webinar Details
Title: Needle Core Muscle Biopsy
Date: Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Speaker:
Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, PhD, FRCP (C)
Webinar Overview:
Traditionally most Neuromuscular Clinics have used an open muscle biopsy for pathological diagnosis. Many Neuromuscular Specialists and Neuropathologists have avoided the use of a needle biopsy technique due to small sample size. The UCH needle has a port on the side to apply suction and this definitely increases the yield several fold. There are several strategies to apply suction to the Bergstrom needle and we will describe custom modifications that we have found to yield excellent sample size. The advantages of the needle biopsy technique are; much smaller scar, very high safety profile; adequate tissue size; ability to perform the biopsy within ten minutes in the clinic; and the ability to sample several different muscles that is a function of the EMG and/or clinical examination. This presentation will go over the needle muscle biopsy technique using either the UCH or Bergstrom muscle biopsy needle for research and patient diagnosis.