AUTHOR=Götschi Tobias , Hanimann Jonas , Schulz Nicole , Huser Simon , Held Victoria , Frey Walter O. , Snedeker Jess G. , Spörri Jörg TITLE=Patellar Tendon Shear Wave Velocity Is Higher and has Different Regional Patterns in Elite Competitive Alpine Skiers than in Healthy Controls JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.858610 DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2022.858610 ISSN=2296-4185 ABSTRACT=
Competitive alpine skiers are exposed to enormous forces acting on their bodies–particularly on the knee joint and hence the patellar tendon - during both the off-season preparation and in-season competition phases. However, factors influencing patellar tendon adaptation and regional pattern differences between alpine skiers and healthy controls are not yet fully understood, but are essential for deriving effective screening approaches and preventative countermeasures. Thirty elite competitive alpine skiers, all members of the Swiss Alpine Ski Team, and 38 healthy age-matched controls were recruited. A set of two-dimensional shear wave elastography measurements of the PT was acquired and projected into three-dimensional space yielding a volumetric representation of the shear wave velocity profile of the patellar tendon. Multivariate linear models served to quantify differences between the two cohorts and effects of other confounding variables with respect to regional shear wave velocity. A significant (