Skip to main content
Log in

Biometric analyses of normal skeletal muscle

  • Original Investigations
  • Published:
Acta Neuropathologica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

This study represents an effort to tabulate the normal mean cross-sectional diameters of human striated muscle fibers in post-mortem material ranging in age from five months gestation through senescence. Age, sex, height and weight of the subjects were taken into account. Cases with neuromuscular illnesses or inanition were specifically excluded. All measurements represent mean narrow fiber diameter of celloidin embedded material sampled at the maximum diameter of the muscle belly. Noteworthy findings include a rapid increase in mean narrow diameter of all muscles except gastrocnemius from gestation to the immediate neonatal period. This was followed by a slower gradual increase in fiber diameter until the age of puberty when again a rapid increase was noted in all muscles except the superior rectus. Following puberty, the superior rectus diameter remained relatively constant throughout life. The sternomastoid, deltoid, biceps, sartorius, quadriceps and gastrocnemius continued a gradual steady increase in fiber size until the late third to early fourth decade, thereafter slowly diminishing in size by the ninth decade. Data are presented to show that the fusiform shape of the biceps muscle cannot be entirely attributed to the fusiform shape of the individual fibers. Particular care must be taken in selecting the level of measurement as fiber diameters appear to be significantly larger near the maximum breadth of the muscle bely. Factors are presented for conversion of measurements between various methods of histologic processing. A useful rule is that the ratio of the sizes of fresh-frozen, fixed-frozen, celloidin and paraffin embedded fibers is roughly 10:9:8:7.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Bibliography

  • Barrett, B.: The length and mode of termination of individual muscle fibers in the human sartorius and posterior femoral muscles. Acta anat. (Basel)48, 242–257 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, C. D., Conen, P. E.: Change in fiber size in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Neurology (Minneap.)17, 902–913 (1967).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowden, D. H., Goyer, R. A.: The size of muscle fibers in infants and children. Arch. Path.69, 188–189 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooke, M. D., Engel, W. K.: The histologic diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases: A review of 79 biopsies. Arch. phys. Med.47, 99–121 (1966).

    Google Scholar 

  • ——: The histographic analysis of human muscle biopsies with regard to fiber types. Neurology (Minneap.)19, 221–233 (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubowitz, V., Pearse, A. G. E.: Reciprocal relatiobship of phosphorylase and oxidative enzymes in skeletal muscle. Nature (Lond.)185, 701–702 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldspink, G.: Studies on post embryonic growth and development of skeletal muscle. Proc. roy. Irish Acad. B62, 136–145 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, J. G., Shy, G. M., Alvord, E. C., Berg, L.: An atlas of muscle pathology in neuromuscular diseases. Edinburgh-London: E. and S. Livingstone LTD. 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halban, J.: Die Dicke der quergestreiften Muskelfasern und ihre Bedeutung. Anat. Hefte3, 267–308 (1894).

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber, C. G.: On the form and arrangement of fasiculi of striated voluntary muscle fibers. Anat. Rec.11, 149–168 (1916).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, J. B.: Histogenesis of striated muscle fibers and the growth of human sartorius muscle. Johns Hopk. Hosp. Bull.9, 208–215 (1898).

    Google Scholar 

  • Marin, O. S. D., Denny-Brown, D.: Changes in skeletal muscle associated with cachexia. Amer. J. Path.41, 23–39 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, R. D.: Growth of human striated muscle. Nature (Lond.)195, 194–195 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  • Morpurgo, V.: Sur l'hypertrophie fonctionnelle des muscles voluntaires. Arch. ital. Biol. (Turin)29, 65–101 (1898).

    Google Scholar 

  • Papanicalaou, G. N., Falk, E. A.: General muscular hypertrophy induced by androgenic hormone. Science87, 238–239 (1938).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sissons, H. A.: Investigations of muscle fiber size. Research in muscular dystrophy. Proceedings of the second Symposium, pp. 89–95, Jan. 1963.

  • Song, S. K., Shimada, N., Anderson, P. J.: Orthogonal diameters in the analysis of muscle fiber size and form. Nature (Lond.)200 1220–1221 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, J.: Disorders of voluntary muscle. Boston: Little Brown and Co. 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wohlfart, G.: Über das Vorkommen verschiedener Arten von Muskelfasern in der Skelettmuskulatur des Menschen und einiger Säugetiere. Acta psychiat. (Kbh.) Suppl.12, 7–119 (1937).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moore, M.J., Rebeiz, J.J., Holden, M. et al. Biometric analyses of normal skeletal muscle. Acta Neuropathol 19, 51–69 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00690954

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00690954

Key-Words

Navigation