title: The role of muscle biopsy in the diagnosis of neuromuscular disorders.
abstract: The technique, selection and precautions of open surgical and needle muscle biopsies were described. The patterns of muscle diseases in Singapore was presented. As muscle diseases differ in aetiology, genetic inheritance and prognosis, a definitive diagnosis is important for the proper management of patients. The usefulness of muscle biopsy in resolving some of the difficult but important differential diagnoses in neuromuscular disorders was presented and discussed. It was concluded that because of the frequent overlap of clinical manifestations of different muscle diseases, muscle biopsy often is the only reliable means of providing a definitive diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National University of Singapore.
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000473:pathology*; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology