Claudia Weidekamm MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Martin Uffmann MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Gerd Schueller MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Till Bader MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether running a marathon causes alterations of bone, menisci, ligaments, and/or cartilage that are demonstrable on MR images.

Twenty non-professional marathon runners underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the knee before and immediately after running a marathon, using sagittal dual TSE-, 3D WATS-, coronal STIR, and axial T2-TSE-images. Two experienced radiologists interpreted the scans and graded the presence of lesions of menisci and cartilage on a 5-point scale, and bone marrow edema, ligamentous lesions, and joint effusion on a 3-point scale.

Bone marrow edema was neither present before nor after the marathon. In one runner, a punctate signal alteration in the anterior cruciate ligament was revealed after the marathon. Joint effusion was present in the pre-run scans of eighteen out of twenty runners and increased slightly after the marathon. No cartilage defects were noticed.

No cartilage lesions, bone marrow edema, and meniscal or ligamentous lesions were demonstrated on MR images. Joint effusion is a common finding in runners and increases by running a marathon.

Weidekamm, C, Uffmann, M, Schueller, G, Bader, T, Does Marathon Running Cause Stress on the Knee Which Is Demonstrable on MR Imaging?.  Radiological Society of North America 2004 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 28 - December 3, 2004 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2004/4408173.html