MEDizzy - A 25-year-old male, who is an offensive lineman for the

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Cell Injury and Adaptations

A 25-year-old male, who is an offensive lineman for the local college football team, dies during a car accident. At autopsy, the injuries, being multiple rib fractures and lacerations of the lungs and heart, with 1500 mL of blood found in the left pleural cavity, are confined to the chest. At autopsy, a biopsy of his left biceps femoris muscle would reveal which of the following?

ExplanationAs the decedent is athletic, there is a stimulus causing enlargement of the biceps femoris muscle, and as athletic activity is a normal activity, the resultant enlargement of the skeletal muscle cells would be considered physiologic and not pathologic. The skeletal muscle cells cannot divide, so they would respond to increased workload by increasing in size (hypertrophy), and not by increasing in number (hyperplasia)