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Acute changes in knee cartilage and meniscus following long-distance running in habituate runners: a systematic review on studies using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging

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Abstract

Objective

Running is among the most popular recreational activities; nonetheless, the acute post-race changes of cartilage or meniscus have rarely been determined. The current study aimed to review the acute changes in knee cartilage and meniscus among habituate runners following long-distance running detected by using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Materials and methods

Systematic literature search was performed on those dominate clinical databases which including MEDLINE, Cochrane, Embase, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. Included studies should be conducted on healthy marathon runners, and the participants should be examined before and after running by using MRI. Intervention studies were excluded.

Results

A total number of 14 studies were finally included in this review which all examined the cartilage or meniscus by using MRI functional sequences. Among them, six studies quantitatively measured the changes regarding volume of the knee cartilage or/and meniscus. Five studies found that the volume would decrease initially after running. Ten studies reported T2 (T2*) would decrease after running and returned to the baseline in a short term, while T1ρ may remain increased in months. Five studies measured subareas for T2 (T2*) value, and found that the superficial and medial subarea changed more vastly than other regions after running.

Conclusion

Runners experience transient changes in the volume and signals of knee cartilage and meniscus after long-distance running. A liquid exchange and material interaction in cartilage and meniscus was observed after running. Superficial and medial areas of knee cartilage and meniscus might be more susceptible to mechanical loading.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Medical and Health Science & Technology Project of Zhejiang Province (grant number 2020KY711) and the Key Medical Disciplines of Hangzhou (grant number YDYX).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Dingbo Shu and Feng Chen contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Clinical Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China

    Dingbo Shu, Jian** Ding & Siyu Dai

  2. Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China

    Dingbo Shu, Jian** Ding & Siyu Dai

  3. Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Feng Chen

  4. Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Wentong Guo

Authors
  1. Dingbo Shu
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  2. Feng Chen
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  4. Jian** Ding
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  5. Siyu Dai
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Correspondence to Siyu Dai.

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Shu, D., Chen, F., Guo, W. et al. Acute changes in knee cartilage and meniscus following long-distance running in habituate runners: a systematic review on studies using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging. Skeletal Radiol 51, 1333–1345 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-021-03943-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-021-03943-0

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