POSTER ABSTRACTS - ISAKOS

E-poster w/ Standard #1007
Syringomyelia in American Football Players
Masaki Nagashima, Shibuya, JAPAN, Presenter
Hitoshi Abe, Tokyo, JAPAN
Yasunori Tsukimura, Minato, Tokyo, JAPAN
Shoei Takeshima, Minato, Tokyo, JAPAN
Hiroomi Kamikura, Tokyo, JAPAN
Morio Matsumoto, Shinjyuku, Tokyo, JAPAN
Hideo Matsumoto, Tokyo, JAPAN
Kazuhiro Chiba, Shinjuku, Tokyo, JAPAN
Kitasato Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Tokyo, JAPAN
Introduction:
While syringomyelia is associated with
progressive neurological symptoms in most cases,
cases without progression of symptoms or change
in the cavity diameter over a prolonged period of
time and cases exhibiting spontaneous reduction
of the cavity size have occasionally been reported.
We encountered three American football (AF)
players who were diagnosed as having
syringomyelia during a medical check-up (MC),
were allowed to continue playing sports, and did
not experience any particular problems.
Case presentation:
A total of 1535 AF and rugby players (645 high
school students, 826 college students and 64
workers) underwent MC at our hospital between
1993 and 2003. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
of the cervical spine was conducted in all of the
athletes, and syringomyelia was detected in three
AF players (0.2%).
Case 1: 24-year-old man. His playing position was
a corner back. There was no neurological
symptom. MRI showed a syringomyelia at the
level between C5 and C6 vertebrae.
Case 2: 21-year-old man. His playing position was
an offense line. MRI showed a syringomyelia at
the C6/7 intervertebral level. During follow-up of
the clinical course, symptoms similar to burner
syndrome appeared, but by one year later, the
symptom had resolved.
Case 3: 20-year-old man. His playing position was
a running back. No neurological symptom was
present. MRI showed syringomyelia at the level of
C6 vertebra.
Clinical course:
Since none of the three patients had any obvious
neurological symptoms, or any accompanying
bony malformations, they were allowed to
continue playing AF after being provided with
adequate information. At the follow-up of 6 to 26
months (mean; 14.3 months,), MRI did not
demonstrate any change in the cavity size in any
of the three athletes, and no neurological
symptom developed.
Discussion:
Since syringomyelia develops in the background
of impaired circulation of the spinal fluid due to
various pathological conditions including Chiari I
malformation, it is progressive in most of the
cases. On the other hand, reports of
asymptomatic syringomyelia and spontaneous
reduction of the cavity size have occasionally been
reported. All of our three cases were
asymptomatic, and had no underlying disorder
such as Chiari I malformation or spinal cord
tumor. Since the cause of development of the
cavity could not be identified, the condition in all
three cases was considered idiopathic.
Our experience suggests that athletes with
syringomyelia may be allowed to continue playing
sports under regular follow-up of clinical courses,
only if no neurological symptom is observed and
no underlying disorder, such as the Chiari I
malformation, is present.
SPORTS MEDICINE
E-poster #1100
Injuries and Overuse Syndromes in Golf
Dennis Liem, Muenster, GERMANY, Presenter
Joern Steinbeck, Muenster, GERMANY
Bjoern Marquardt, Muenster, GERMANY
Wolfgang Oetzl, Muenster, GERMANY
Winfried Winkelmann, Muenster, GERMANY
Georg Gosheger, Muenster, GERMANY
Department of Orthopaedics, University of
Muenster, Muenster, GERMANY
Background:
Golf is becoming more popular while there is a
lack of reliable epidemiologic data especially
regarding severity of suffered injuries and overuse
syndromes.
Objective:
The objective was to perform an epidemiological
study of the variety of different musculoskeletal
problems for golfers and to examine associations
of the golfers age, gender, physical stature (BMI),
warming up routine and playing level with the
occurrence of reported injuries.
Study design:
Retrospective cohort study
Methods:
We analyzed the injury data from a total of 703
golfers who were randomly selected over two