No, it’s not sufficiently specific for that purpose, Dr. Oddis replied. But he added that he wouldn’t get a muscle biopsy in patients with fairly stable elevations of CPK following statin discontinuation provided they had stable strength; he just follows them. And in patients whose symptoms normalize following statin discontinuation, as occurs in the great majority of cases, no work-up is necessary. Another statin can be tried, or a drug from another lipid-lowering class.
Dr. Oddis declared having no relevant financial interests.