Smooth muscle                                  Chart

                             
Cell types: Muscle cell (myocyte)
 

Differential diagnosis:
 Other muscle types such as skeletal and cardiac muscles have very visible striations. Cells (fibers) are fusiform shaped on longitudinal sections.

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Diagnostic Features:
a. Tissue is compact (e.g. liver)
b. There is no cross striations since myofibrils are hardly visible.
c. Fibers are fusiform shaped with no covering sarcolemma (plasmalemma).
d. Prominent and large centrally placed nuclei; one per cell. Striations are in form of crosses in most cases and prominent in longitudinal sections.
e. Under transverse section muscle fibers may be dovtailed together
f. They are found in the lower part of esophagus and the rest of the gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinary, reproductive systems and the skin as arrectores pilorum, arteries, veins and sweat glands.

Draw your own section here and make your diagnosis by data base selection below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Database selection: Practical Tissue Gross

Level 1: Select  compact
Level 2: Select muscular tissue from list of sclerous, muscular, connective, organ-glands and nervous tissues. This is due to parallel running fibers.
Level 3: Select no stripes  since striations are not seen

Note lack of syncytium and lack of branching of fibers and the uninucleate and centrally placed large nuclei

Can you see myofibrils when placed under very high magnification?
 

 

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