The Histopathology of Progressive Muscular Dystrophy as Revealed by Ultraviolet Photomicrography

Results have been presented of the application of a simplified technique of ultraviolet photomicrography to a study of the specific lesions in muscle in subjects with progressive muscular dystrophy. An exact description of the histological changes occurring in this syndrome, as revealed by photomicrographs in ultraviolet light, is difficult at this time because of the lack of an adequate system of nomenclature. Attention has been drawn, however, to lesions of consistent character, found in sections of muscle removed at biopsy, which appear to be specific for the disease. The method of simplified ultraviolet photomicrography possesses certain marked advantages over those classical methods of histology and pathology which depend on staining and examination of specimens in visible light. Not only is greater resolution achieved with ultraviolet light photomicrography but the image which is obtained in the ultraviolet may provide some idea of the chemical nature of the tissue as well, since it results chiefly from the selective absorption of light by proteins, nucleoproteins, and nucleic acids.