Pathology of the inflammatory myopathies.

Careful examination of muscle biopsy specimens is indispensable in the diagnostic work-up of patients whose clinical picture is suggestive of or consistent with an inflammatory myopathy. Pathological diagnosis can, in the vast majority of cases, determine the specific type of inflammatory myopathy which is of paramount importance for prognosis and therapy. The pathological study of muscle has also been useful to reveal information pertaining to the pathogenesis of the different entities and ultimately it may also lead us to the precise aetiology.