Exertional rhabdomyolysis is best described as the dissolution of skeletal muscle with exercise. Which term matches this description?

• A. Nutritional myopathy
• B. Fibrocartilaginous embolism
• C. Exertional rhabdomyolysis
• D. Polysaccharide storage myopathy

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is identifying the term for breakdown of skeletal muscle caused by exercise. Exertional rhabdomyolysis describes muscle fiber dissolution triggered by strenuous activity, leading to acute muscle damage and leakage of contents into the bloodstream. This directly matches the description of muscle dissolution with exercise, making it the correct term.

Nutritional myopathy refers to muscle degeneration due to deficiencies (like selenium or vitamin E) rather than exercise-induced breakdown. Fibrocartilaginous embolism is a vascular event affecting the spinal cord or brain, not muscle tissue. Polysaccharide storage myopathy is a metabolic condition related to abnormal glycogen storage causing muscle stiffness and damage, but not the acute, exercise-triggered breakdown described here.