ABSTRACT
Skeletal muscle is composed of bundles of longitudinally orientated muscle fibers. Each bundle is surrounded by connective tissue known as the perimysium. The endomysium is the fibrous tissue separating individual fibers within each fascicle: normally it is virtually invisible on light microscopy, but increases when there is fiber destruction. The connective tissue enclosing all fascicles is called the epimysium. Each fascicle consists of longitudinally arranged muscle fibers. The different components of muscle are shown in Fig. 18.1.
