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Washington University Experience | MUSCLE | Myopathies with Mitochondrial Pathology | 36A2 (Case 36) Cervical Paraspinal_005 - Copy
Paraspinous muscle: This muscle had a definitive ultrastructural phenotype characterized by significantly increased numbers of mitochondria, both in a subsarcolemmal distribution and deeper within the fiber in smaller clumps. Mitochondria were enlarged, had unusual lengths and angular shapes, varying from fiber to fiber, containing dark coarse cristae and numerous associated lipid droplets. A subpopulation of muscle fibers additionally contained autophagosomes, some containing mitochondria but most with smaller granular debris. There were numerous large lipopigment (lipofuscin) granules with clear lipidic and osmiophilic constituents; some of these structures had a curvilinear appearance but those inclusions were rare. (electron micrograph)
