No abstract

3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:1034-1042.

Background. The incidence rate of muscle injuries and re-injuries in professional elite soccer players actually is very high and may interfere with the fate of a championship. Purpose. To investigate the effect of a two-tiered injury prevention programme on first injury and re-injury incidence in top level male soccer players. Study designCase Series Study. Muscle injuries and re-injuries sustained by a group of 36 soccer player of an italian elite soccer team have been collected during 2010-2011 season. These data have been compared with those collected during the previous season in the same elite soccer team. Results. A total of 64 injuries occurred, 36 (56%) of which during practice and 28 (44%) during matches. Muscle injuries accounted for 31.3% of the total (n=20), 70% (n=14) of which occurred during practice and 30% (n=6) during matches.Hamstring were the muscles most often injured (n=11) In all, 3 re-injuries occurred (15% of muscle injuries). No early re-injuries occurred. The incidence was 2.5 injuries/1000 hours and the burden was 37 days absence/1000 hours. Conclusions. Through the implementation of a group and personalized injury prevention program, we were able to reduce the total number of muscle injuries and days absent because of injury, in a team of elite soccer players, as compared to the previous season. Specifically, muscle injuries accounted for 31% of all injuries, as compared to 59% of all injuries sustained by the team during the previous season. The number of injuries/1000 hours of exposure was reduced by half (from 5.6 to 2.5) and the days absent/1000 hours fell from 106 to 37.

DWI provides reliable information to support MRI diagnosis of neoplastic versus osteoporotic fractures. ADC value appears as a useful adjunctive parameter.

No abstract

Many studies in the literature have highlighted the utility of virtual 3D databanks as a substitute for real skeletal collections and the important application of radiological records in personal identification. However, none have investigated the accuracy of virtual material compared to skeletal remains in nonmetric variant analysis using 3D models. The present study investigates the accuracy of 20 computed tomography (CT) 3D reconstruction models compared to the real crania, focusing on the quality of the reproduction of the real crania and the possibility to detect 29 dental/cranial morphological variations in 3D images. An interobserver analysis was performed to evaluate trait identification, number, position, and shape. Results demonstrate a false bone loss in 3D models in some cranial regions, specifically the maxillary and occipital bones in 85% and 20% of the samples. Additional analyses revealed several difficulties in the detection of cranial nonmetric traits in 3D models, resulting in incorrect identification in circa 70% of the traits. In particular, pitfalls included the detection of erroneous position, error in presence/absence rates, in number, and in shape. The lowest percentages of correct evaluations were found in traits localized in the lateral side of the cranium and for the infraorbital suture, mastoid foramen, and crenulation. The present study highlights important pitfalls in CT scan when compared with the real crania for nonmetric analysis. This may have crucial consequences in cases where 3D databanks are used as a source of reference population data for nonmetric traits and pathologies and during bone-CT comparisons for identification purposes.

GTPS was more frequently observed in patients with normal hip morphology than in patients with FAI, particularly in patients under 40.

To assess the effectiveness of indirect Magnetic Resonance arthrography (i-MRa) in the detection of chondral and labral lesions related to femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) a series of 21 hip joints in 17 patients with a clinical diagnosis of FAI were examined either with standard MR imaging, i-MRa and direct-MR arthrography (d-MRa). Sensitivity and accuracy of i-MRa in detecting chondral, labral and tardive lesions were calculated and compared with standard MR. The agreement in detecting endoarticular damage between i-MRa and d-MRa and the interobserver agreement was assessed by K statistic (p<0.05). Finally the presence of trocanteric bursitis was evaluated. I-MRa showed higher values of both sensivity and accuracy than standard MR in detecting chondral damage, with an increase to 92% for the first item and 95% for the second. The same was noticed in labrum evaluation with an increase to 88% and 90% respectively. The level of agreement between i-MRa and d-MRa in detection of chondral lesions was excellent, substantial for the labral damage and absolute for early osteoarthritic changes. An excellent interobserver agreement resulted in detection of both chondral and labral damages with i-MRa. In 6 hips (28,5%) we also found the presence of peri-trochanteric soft tissue inflammation that indicated the possibility of extrarticular involvement in FAI. Indirect-MRa can be considered a valid method of assessing endoarticular damage related to FAI, in comparison to d-MRa. It should be performed instead of standard MR if d-MRa is not available.