TY - JOUR T1 - 3.0 T MRI findings of 104 hips of asymptomatic adults: from non-runners to ultra-distance runners JF - BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine JO - BMJ OPEN SP EX MED DO - 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000997 VL - 7 IS - 2 SP - e000997 AU - Laura Maria Horga AU - Johann Henckel AU - Anastasia Fotiadou AU - Anna Di Laura AU - Anna Hirschmann AU - Alister Hart Y1 - 2021/05/01 UR - http://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/7/2/e000997.abstract N2 - Objectives To determine and compare the health status of hip joints of individuals undertaking various lengths of long-distance running and of those who are not running.Methods Fifty-two asymptomatic volunteers underwent bilateral hip 3.0 Tesla MRI: (1) 8 inactive non-runners; (2) 28 moderately active runners (average half a marathon (21 km)/week) and (3) 16 highly active runners (≥ marathon (42 km)/week). Two musculoskeletal radiologists reported the hip MRI findings using validated scoring systems. Study participants completed a Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) questionnaire to indicate their perceived hip function.Results The MRI findings show that there were no significant differences among inactive non-runners, moderately active runners and highly active runners in the amount of labral abnormalities (p=0.327), articular cartilage lesions (p=0.270), tendon abnormalities (p=0.141), ligament abnormalities (p=0.519). Bone marrow oedema was significantly more common in moderately active runners than in non-runners and highly active runners (p=0.025), while small subchondral cysts were more common in runners than in non-runners (p=0.017), but these were minor/of small size, asymptomatic and did not indicate specific exercise-related strain. Articular cartilage lesions and bone marrow oedema were not found in highly active runners. HOOS scores indicate no hip symptoms or functional problems among the three groups.Conclusion The imaging findings were not significantly different among inactive non-runners, moderately active runners and highly active runners, in most hip structures, suggesting that long-distance running may not add further damage to the hip joints.Data are available upon reasonable request. Requests for access to data from the study should be addressed to the corresponding author at laura.horga.17@ucl.ac.uk. All proposals requesting data access will need to specify how it is planned to use the data, and all proposals will need approval of the study co-investigator team before data release. ER -