Jornal de Patologia Cirúrgica e Diagnóstico

Minor Surgical Procedures Required for Establishing Diagnosis in Neuropathology in Children: Ideal Procedure, Indications and Contraindications-A Brief Review

Abstract

Prateek Kumar Panda

In clinical neurological practice, histopathological diagnosis is often required for establishing definitive diagnosis of various neuromuscular disorders and neurodegenerative disorders like neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. To obtain the tissue specimen required for putting histopathological stains, various minor surgical procedures are often carried out by the clinicians. These include nerve biopsy, muscle biopsy and skin biopsy. A clinician needs to be aware of the ideal procedure, proper clinical indications, perioperative and postoperative care of patients undergoing these minor surgical procedures. This review article provides a brief review of the above three procedures in a concise manner. Muscle biopsy is usually carried out in children with suspected muscular dystrophies and myopathies, and the most common site is vastus lateralis. Similarly nerve biopsy is carried out in children with suspected hereditary and acquired peripheral neuropathies from sural nerve. Skin biopsy is usually carried out from axilla, in children with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis to demonstrate auto florescent granules and fingerprint/curvilinear or rectilinear inclusions.