Jv. Hennessey et al., INCREASE IN PERCUTANEOUS MUSCLE BIOPSY YIELD WITH A SUCTION-ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUE, Journal of applied physiology, 82(6), 1997, pp. 1739-1742
The percutaneous muscle biopsy technique is used in clinical practice
and biomedical research. We developed a new enhanced-suction technique
[suction-enhancing nipples (SEN)I and compared it with techniques cur
rently in practice by assessing biopsy yields on anesthetized pigs. We
applied the enhanced-suction technique to human subjects participatin
g in a clinical trial. In the pig, there was a mean 91% (1.9-fold) inc
rease in the size of the samples obtained with the 4-mm needle when SE
N was used and a mean 507% (fivefold) increase in sample size when the
SEN was applied to the 6-mm needles. Nine passes of the 6-mm needle w
ith SEN obtained from five consecutive human subjects yielded a mean i
ndividual sample size of 109.4 mg or 219.4 mg per needle pass when usi
ng the double-sample technique. Adequate tissue samples for histomorph
ometric and other analyses were obtained in all samples obtained. The
percutaneous muscle biopsy performed with enhanced suction using inexp
ensive, readily available nipples enhances tissue yield two- to fivefo
ld.