Type Of Sports Participation And T2 Relaxation Time Of Acl In Healthy Recreational Athletes

INTRODUCTION: T2 mapping is a method commonly used to provide indirect information about the collagen, free water content and the orientation of the tissue. Higher T2 relaxation time (T2) values reflects changes in the properties of the tissue. Long-term participation in sports that involve risky movements (cutting maneuvers, landings) for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury could affect ACL properties. However, participation in contact or non-contact sports may affect ligament properties differently. Therefore, our goal is to gain insights into the influence of various sports on the structural integrity of the ACL. PURPOSE: To compare T2 relaxation times of the medial part of the ACL among three groups of healthy recreational athletes (aged 18-35), who participated in different types of sports (contact, non-contact, and both types). METHODS: The study involved 73 participants (79% males, 21% females): 42% participated in contact sports (e.g. football, handball), 44% in non-contact sports (e.g. volleyball, tennis), and 14% in both types of sports. Participants completed physical activity questionnaires, underwent knee MRI, and carried out cutting biomechanics analysis with a 3-D motion capture system. An analysis of variance (ANOVA), controlling for sex, was performed to test the possible differences among the sport types groups and followed by pairwise t-tests with a Holm correction for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: The results of the ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference among the sport types in the T2 values (P = 0.019). Pairwise comparisons showed significant differences in T2 between contact and non-contact sports (P = 0.017). CONCLUSION: Recreational athletes who reported participation in contact sports showed significantly higher T2 which suggests different ACL properties than participation in non-contact sports. FIGURE 1- Box-plot of T2 of the medial part of ACL by sport type groups, controlling for sexEuropean Union and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, grant number CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000798 Program 4 Healthy Aging in Industrial Environment, European Union under the LERCO project number CZ.10.03.01/00/22_003/0000003 via the Operational Program Just Transition