Femoropatellar Joint Reaction Detected During a 4486 KM Ultramarathon with Mobile MRI Almost nothing is known about the condition of the knee joints during and after a multi-stap running. This is the first image-based examination of the femoropatellar joint using a mobile 1.5-TMRT, which has accompanied the 64 stages of the transseurope foot race over 4486 km. Twenty-four (20 male) subjects received a knee MRI according to the protocol during defined measuring intervals during the transseurope foot-RACE. In the femoropatellar joint, 12 different regions were evaluated with regard to changing the cartard thickness and cartilaments during the transseurope foot-RACE and, if necessary, a test for possible influencing factors such as running load, BMI, age performed. During the trans-internal foot race, no significant changes in the cartoon edges of the T2 values were found. At 8 runners at least one individual cartilage (degree 2-3) was found at the beginning of the study, but no significant changes or progress of the defects could be detected.
The extreme running load of a multi-stap run does not seem to have a relevant negative impact on the femoropatellar joint, even if cartpellesions are available. The whole work can be found under https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31958873/