Guest guest Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 If you mean type 2 atrophy on a muscle biopsy, this is common. laurie > Is atrophy type 2 a common finding with mito? Does it cause other > types of atrophy or just the type 2 fibers? > > Saw my family dr yesterday (who is not very familiar with mito) and I > am very confused. I am seeing Dr. Vockley in January so I will be > very assured with whatever he decides but was just curious in the > meantime. > > Thanks, > > > > > > > Medical advice, information, opinions, data and statements contained herein > are not necessarily those of the list moderators. The author of this e mail > is entirely responsible for its content. List members are reminded of their > responsibility to evaluate the content of the postings and consult with > their physicians regarding changes in their own treatment. > > Personal attacks are not permitted on the list and anyone who sends one is > automatically moderated or removed depending on the severity of the attack. > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Yes, type II atropy is a common finding in muscle biopsies of patients with mitochondrial disease. (I have both type I and type II atrophy, but type II is the most common.) Here is an abstract with a summary of the most common muscle biopsy findings in a group of patients with mitochondrial disease. Note that most of these findings--including type II atrophy---are nonspecific to mitochondrial disease, that is they can also be found in many other kinds of muscle disorders. Only a minority of cases had biopsy findings associated primarily with mitochondrial disease, such as COX deficient fibers, ragged red fibers or structural abnormalities in the mitochondria. Barbara ------------------------------------- Diagnostic yield muscle biopsy in patients with clinical evidence of mitochondrial cytopathy. Rollins S, Prayson RA, McMahon JT, Cohen BH. Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, Cleveland, USA. We retrospectively reviewed 118 muscle biopsy specimens from 113 patients with clinical and/or biochemical evidence of mitochondrial cytopathy. Light microscopic evaluation revealed histologic abnormalities in 65 specimens. The most common histologic findings included angular atrophic esterase-positive muscle fibers, type II muscle atrophy, regenerating muscle fibers, and scattered cytochrome-oxidase deficient fibers. Ragged red fibers were noted in 3 specimens on a Gomori trichrome stain. Electron microscopic evaluation was performed in 113 muscle specimens, and in 34, no abnormalities were identified. Increased numbers of mitochondria, particularly in the subsarcolemmal region, were identified in 54 specimens. Increased mitochondrial size was seen in 8 specimens and paracrystalline mitochondrial inclusions in 3. Other ultrastructural findings included focally increased glycogen deposition, focal Z-band streaming, and focally increased lipid accumulation. For 39 cases, concomitant skin biopsy specimens were available; abnormalities were identified by electron microscopy in 12. The majority of biopsy specimens demonstrated some light or electron microscopic abnormality. Specific histologic findings suggestive of mitochondrial abnormalities (partial cytochrome oxidase deficiency, ragged red fibers) were noted in a minority of cases. Ultrastructural evidence of mitochondrial abnormalities was noted in the majority of cases. > Is atrophy type 2 a common finding with mito? Does it cause other > types of atrophy or just the type 2 fibers? > > Saw my family dr yesterday (who is not very familiar with mito) and I > am very confused. I am seeing Dr. Vockley in January so I will be > very assured with whatever he decides but was just curious in the > meantime. > > Thanks, > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 Thank you for your response on this....it does help. However, I still don't understand atrophy and have a hard time finding information on it. ALL 3 of my muscle biopsies show atrophy type II, but my EMG's are normal and my neurological exams are always normal..after 10 yrs..is this possible with mito and atrophy? Can't deny the atrophy with it being in the biopsy, but can't understand why the emg's and neuro exams are normal. My family dr. thinks I have mixed connective tissue disease. Thanks Again, > > Is atrophy type 2 a common finding with mito? Does it cause other > types of atrophy or just the type 2 fibers? > > Saw my family dr yesterday (who is not very familiar with mito) and I > am very confused. I am seeing Dr. Vockley in January so I will be > very assured with whatever he decides but was just curious in the > meantime. > > Thanks, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 --- larual2002 larual2002@...> wrote: My family dr. > thinks I have > mixed connective tissue disease. > What forms of connective tissue disease does your doc think you have? My aunt's doc said he thought she had this " less serious thing than lupus " but he obviously doesn't understand the disorder. Do you have lupus, raynauds, etc? If you have mixed connective tissue disease I doubt anybody would make a mito diagnosis as mito is a disorder of elimination. Mom to the two best kids in the world! http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/thomasandkatie __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 , Here are some links that may help you understand a little more about muscle atrophy. Like most other medical findings, atrophy comes in degrees, anywhere from slight to severe and can be caused by many different things including aging and disuse, certain drugs, neuropathy or myopathy. Some conditions can produce distinctive shapes in the atrophic fibers that would suggest a specific cause for the atrophy, but this is not always the case. There have been reports that Vit E may help prevent disuse atrophy when normal activity is not possible (one study was in rats) and other reports that creatine monohydrate can help rebuild atrophied muscle. I use both. Yes, I do think it's possible to have atrophy with a normal EMG, especially if your atrophy is not increasing over the years but remaining about at the same level. In my case, the atrophy has remained at a similar level over 20 years but the EMG has gotten progressively worse. Go figure. I'm glad you are going to see Dr. Vockley. By all accounts, he's great, and I'm sure he can explain more about your atrophy and what it might mean. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003188.htm http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/neuromuscular/mother/wastw.html http://www.spiralnotebook.org/restvsrust/index.html Take care, Barbara > Thank you for your response on this....it does help. > > However, I still don't understand atrophy and have a hard time finding > information on it. ALL 3 of my muscle biopsies show atrophy type II, > but my EMG's are normal and my neurological exams are always > normal..after 10 yrs..is this possible with mito and atrophy? Can't > deny the atrophy with it being in the biopsy, but can't understand why > the emg's and neuro exams are normal. My family dr. thinks I have > mixed connective tissue disease. > > > Thanks Again, > > > > > > > > > Is atrophy type 2 a common finding with mito? Does it cause other > > types of atrophy or just the type 2 fibers? > > > > Saw my family dr yesterday (who is not very familiar with mito) and > I > > am very confused. I am seeing Dr. Vockley in January so I will be > > very assured with whatever he decides but was just curious in the > > meantime. > > > > Thanks, > > > > > > > > > > > > Medical advice, information, opinions, data and statements contained herein are > not necessarily those of the list moderators. The author of this e mail is entirely > responsible for its content. List members are reminded of their responsibility to > evaluate the content of the postings and consult with their physicians regarding > changes in their own treatment. > > Personal attacks are not permitted on the list and anyone who sends one is > automatically moderated or removed depending on the severity of the attack. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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