| muscle serum | The fluid remaining after the coagulation of muscle plasma and the separation of myosin. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| muscle sound | A fine murmur heard on auscultation over the belly of a contracting muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| muscle spasm | <physiology> Painful involuntary muscle contractions. Often seen in skeletal muscle after acute injury (muscle strain). (07 Apr 1998) |
| muscle spasticity | A combination of the symptoms of increased resistance to lengthening, hyperactive tendon reflexes, and clonus. Muscle spasticity occurs in hemiplegia. (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle spindle | A specialised muscle fibre found in tetrapod vertebrates. A bundle of muscle fibres is innervated by sensory neurons. Stretching the muscle causes the neurons to fire, the muscle spindle thus functions as a stretch receptor. (18 Nov 1997) |
| muscle spindles | Mechanoreceptors found between skeletal muscle fibres. Muscle spindles are arranged in parallel with muscle fibres and respond to the passive stretch of the muscle, but cease to discharge if the muscle contracts isotonically, thus signaling muscle length. The muscle spindles are the receptors responsible for the stretch or myotactic reflex (reflex, stretch). (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle strain | An acute tearing injury to muscle. Usually associated with a small amount of bleeding (haematoma) into the injured muscle tissue. (27 Sep 1997) |
| muscle tension headache | A benign form of headache that results from the painful spasm (muscle tightness) and inflammation of muscles of the head and neck. Tension headache is one of the most common forms of headache. Spasm and contraction of the head and neck muscles may occur in response to fatigue, overuse, eye strain, excessive smoking, stress, anxiety or depression. Sleeping in an abnormal position or prolonged work involving immobilisation of the neck in one position (typing, computers, etc.) are considered common triggers. Exercising and stretching the muscles of the head and neck can reduce the occurrence of muscle tension headaches. (27 Sep 1997) |
| muscle tonus | The state of activity or tension of a muscle beyond that related to its physical properties, that is, its active resistance to stretch. In skeletal muscle, tonus is dependent upon efferent innervation. (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle weakness | A vague complaint of debility, fatigue, or exhaustion attributable to weakness of various muscles. The weakness can be characterised as subacute or chronic, often progressive, and is a manifestation of many muscle and neuromuscular diseases. (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle, adductor | Any muscle that pulls inward toward the midline of the body. For example, the adductor muscles of the leg serve to pull the legs together. The opposite of adductor is abductor. To keep these similar sounding terms straight, medical students learn to speak of a b ductors versus a d ductors. (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle, central core disease of | One of the conditions that produces 'floppy baby' syndrome. Ccd causes hypotonia (inadequately toned muscles characterised by floppiness) in the newborn baby, slowly progressive muscle weakness, and muscle cramps after exercise. Muscle biopsy shows a key diagnostic finding (absent mitochondria in the centre of many type i muscle fibres). Ccd is inherited as a dominant trait. The ccd gene is on chromosome 19 (and involves ryanodine receptor-1). (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle, skeletal | Striated muscles having fibres connected at either or both extremities with the bony framework of the body. These are found in appendicular and axial muscles. (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle, smooth | Unstriated and unstriped muscle, one of the muscles of the internal organs, blood vessels, hair follicles, etc. Contractile elements are elongated, usually spindle-shaped cells with centrally located nuclei. Smooth muscle fibres are bound together into sheets or bundles by reticular fibres and frequently elastic nets are also abundant. (12 Dec 1998) |
| muscle, smooth, vascular | The nonstriated, involuntary muscle tissue of blood vessels. (12 Dec 1998) |