ABSTRACT
While diseases of peripheral nerves fall clearly within the scope of the neuropathologist, it is not as obvious why muscle pathology should do so when retinal pathology, on the other hand, usually does not. The reason for this is historical rather than logical; ophthalmology developed as an independent specialty early on in many medical centers, with its own specialized pathology services. Muscle disease has always been the responsibility of neurologists, general physicians and rheumatologists, and muscle pathology naturally came to fall within the province of pathologists with whom these clinicians had dealings. Some muscle pathology used to be, and in some places still is, dealt with by general pathologists or by neurologists, an arrangement that is quite acceptable provided they have the facilities to undertake histochemistry and electron microscopy (EM) on muscle biopsies. Discussion of the handling of muscle biopsies will be found in Chapter 4, and recommendations for collection of post mortem muscle samples in Chapter 1 (p.8). In either case it is important to obtain accurately orientated and correctly frozen transverse and longitudinal sections.
