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Fig. 4 | BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Fig. 4

From: Muscle architecture, growth, and biological Remodelling in cerebral palsy: a narrative review

Fig. 4

Hypothetical mechanism for increased sarcomere length and reduced apparent PCSA in CP muscle (inset represents sarcomere structures within muscles). A typical muscle grows in length by adding sarcomeres in series (A and B). Sarcomere length at a neutral joint angle (Ls) remains constant but the number of sarcomeres in series increases. In individuals with CP, muscles and tendons also lengthen with growth, but sarcomeres stretch out, rather than adding in series, while tendons lengthen (A and C). This effect may contribute to reduced cross-sections (see ref. width in C); a muscle with 20% longer sarcomeres is 20% narrower in cross-section because of the isovolumetric property of muscle. Figure our own, created using Adobe Illustrator (Adobe, Inc., San Jose, CA, USA) under the University of Auckland site license

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