i,
I'm looking for some help on setting up a protocol for muscle bx's being
sent to us from outside our hospital. Increasingly more often, due to the
changes in our health care system, we are receiving these specimens from as
far away as 3 to 600 miles.  
We have found, that the tissue received frozen from referring institutions,
where experienced technologists are not available, demonstrate substantial
freeze artifact, also many of these outlying hospitals don't have the
equipment available to them.  Therefore we are attempting to set up a
protocol for having the tissue sent immediately, fresh for freezing and in
gluteraldehyde for E.M.  
we're interested in the methods for clamping (without the availability of
clamps) the muscle for transportation. (our Neuropathologists prefer the
muscles clamped) and your observations on the  effect the delay of possible
6 to 24 hrs has on the enzyme studies.  We do approximately 100 muscles per
year and a large spectrum of enzyme testing.
We would appreciate feedback from anyone having experience doing this.
Thanks in advance.
Sharon Allen
sallen@hsc.mb.ca