MUSCLE BIOPSY COVID-19 TESTING REQUIREMENT CHANGE
Note that Michigan Medicine Laboratories (MLabs) no longer requires a copy of COVID-19 PCR test results to be sent with referred Muscle Biopsy specimens. It is expected that clients will follow hospital COVID-19 and infectious disease pre-screening guidelines prior to the muscle biopsy procedure. Please notify MLabs if the patient is positive for COVID-19 or other infectious etiology that may put technical personnel at risk. Complete evaluation of skeletal muscle requires submission of fresh or frozen tissue which represents an infectious risk to laboratory personnel who perform aerosolizing procedures. Therefore, unfixed fresh or frozen muscle biopsy specimens should not be sent if the patient has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Updates to MLabs Muscle Biopsy Tissue Submission Protocol and Requisition are in process.