Program

• Sonographic Acute Diagnostic and Follow-Up of Muscle Injuries in Professional Soccer - Dr. Ralf Doyscher
• Ultrasound of Hamstring Injuries: What Should We Know and Look At - Prof. Carlo Martinoli
• Ultrasound in Calf Injuries: Strengths and Weaknesses - Dr. Iñigo Iriarte
• The role of MRI in Muscle Injury: Prevention, Prognosis and Return to Play - Dr. Sandra Mechó
• Live Q&A - moderated by Dr. Tobias de Zordo

Learning Objectives:

1. Ability to use standardized imaging criteria to categorize muscle injury
2. Understand how to use sonographic and MRI findings to assess the healing process
3. Knowledge of the most frequent types of muscular injuries in sports

Moderator: Dr. Tobias de Zordo, MD
Radiologist
Head of Radiology Department
Brixsana Private Clinic
Brixen, Italy


Dr. Tobias De Zordo is the head of the radiology department at Brixsana, a private hospital in the heart of the Alps (South Tyrol, Italy). He was trained in Innsbruck, Austria and completed a research fellowship in London, Ontario (Canada). One of his main interests is the musculoskeletal field covering the diagnostic assessment of sports injuries from all alpine sports in winter and summer, but also professional and amateur skiers, runners, climbers, hikers, biathlon, sliding, football, handball, and ice hockey. He performs different types of MSK interventions and has published several articles and book chapters on this topic. Overall, he has published more than 30 articles and 7 book chapters and has given over 100 talks. His department is fully Canon equipped with 1.5 T MRI, CT, and ultrasound machines.

Speaker: Dr. Ralf Doyscher, MD
Sportsmedicine and Orthopedics
Team Physician Borussia Monchengladbach
Orthopädiezentrum Theresie, Munich, Germany
Mönchengladbach, Germany

Dr. Ralf Doyscher is a specialist in orthopedics, trauma surgery and non-surgical sports orthopedics. He is a full-time team doctor for the German first league soccer club Borussia VFL 1900 Mönchengladbach and works part-time at the private Orthopedic-Centre Orthopädiezentrum Theresie in Munich. Dr. Doyscher is a specialist in diagnostics, treatment, and prevention of muscle injuries, as well as the non-surgical treatment of cartilage defects in athletes. One of his main foci is musculoskeletal sonography as well as ultrasound-guided injection techniques. He studied in Germany, South Africa and the US and successfully graduated with the German as well as US federal licensing examinations (USMLE). He completed his studies in orthopedic and trauma surgery at the Centre for Musculoskeletal Surgery (CMSC) at Charité, Berlin. During his time in Berlin, he worked as a team doctor at FC Union Berlin, Füchse Berlin, as well as for several German Olympic federations and national teams.

Presentation Title: Sonographic Acute Diagnostic and Follow-Up of Muscle Injuries in Professional Soccer
Due to its fast and easy availability Sonography has become the front-line diagnostic investigation in acute muscle injuries in sports. The accuracy and reliability, however, are still thought to be limited, and dependent on an examiner´s level of experience compared to the more complex and expansive imaging technologies like MRI. Improvements in hardware and software are however facilitating a new status, that of point-of-care ultrasound. Using modern sonographic devices physicians are enabled in the detection and follow-up of most muscle injuries with similar quality to MRI. This fact emphasizes the need for training and education, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience among practitioners, scientists, and technicians. This presentation will demonstrate the basic criteria to identify muscle lesions using standard clinical ultrasound imaging and the parameters used to assess the healing process in follow-up examinations. It will also identify the difficulties and limitations of this technique. Ultrasound and clinically based injury graduation systems will be presented, as well as the authors’ subjective experiences.

Speaker: Prof. Carlo Martinoli, MD
Radiologist
Associate Professor of Radiology
IRCCS San Martino University Hospital Genoa
Genoa, Italy

Carlo Martinoli is Full Professor of Radiology, Director of the Postgraduate School of Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Genoa and Head of the Emergency Radiology Unit at the University-Hospital (IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino) of Genoa, Italy. He has devoted more than 25 years to education in the field of musculoskeletal radiology and is author of a preeminent textbook on Musculoskeletal Ultrasound that has been listed within the top 10 best-selling scientific books of Springer Verlag for 2010. The book has been written in English and then translated in Korean, Turkish, Polish, Spanish and Chinese. Carlo Martinoli has been included in the list of top 1.5% international scientists (Plos Biology®). He is a renowned speaker and has held over one thousand invited lectures at international courses or congresses. He has published over 280 articles in international peer reviewed medical journals. Carlo Martinoli is currently President of the European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology. He was one of the founders of the International Society of Peripheral Neurophysiological Imaging (ISPNI), a multidisciplinary society that aims to forward global education and research in the field of peripheral nerve imaging.

Presentation Title: Ultrasound of Hamstring Injuries: What Should We Know and Look At
The hamstring muscle complex consists of a group of posterior biarticular thigh muscles, originating at the ischial tuberosity, which extend the hip and flex the knee joint. In some sporting activities, such as rugby, football, soccer and sprinting, hamstrings tears represent the most common non-contact muscle injury as a result of explosive sprinting or jumping movements. Ultrasound examination of these muscles is very challenging and requires availability of high-end technology and extensive knowledge of the complex muscle anatomy of the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, long- and short-head of the biceps femoris. These factors represent critical prerequisites to improve the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound in identifying and grading acute injuries in recreational and professional athletes, thus providing a reliable framework for monitoring injury progress and helping to select the candidates for potential intervention. This presentation is meant to outline the most relevant anatomical landmarks to conduct a systematic and accurate examination of this complex muscle group with ultrasound. The most common types of muscle tears and strains occurring in sportsmen will be also discussed.

Speaker: Dr. Iñigo Iriarte, MD
Medical specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
ARS MEDICA S.L.P
Bilbao, Spain

Dr. Iñigo Iriarte is a Medical specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Professor of Ultrasound of the Spanish Society of Physical Medicine &. Rehabilitation. Director in Ars Medica in Bilbao and consultant of Athletic Bilbao F.C Medical Service.

Presentation Title: Ultrasound in Calf Injuries: Strengths and Weaknesses
Calf injuries are among the most frequent injuries in sports. Medial and lateral gastrocnemia, soleus and plantaris muscles are the main components of the calf. Ultrasound is a valuable tool to assess medial gastrocnemius injuries, allowing a perfect categorization. On the other side, ultrasound assessment of soleus injuries are more challenging because of its complex structure and depth. In this lecture we are going to see the main types of medial gastrocnemius and soleus injuries and the role of the ultrasound on its diagnosis with their advantages and limits.

Speaker: Dr. Sandra Mechó, MD
Radiologist
Hospital de Barcelona-SCIAS
Barcelona, Spain

Dr. Sandra Mechó is a Radiologist at the Hospital de Barcelona-SCIAS, a specialist in musculoskeletal MRI and one of the people in charge of the Magnetic Resonance Department at the Joan Gamper Fútbol Club Barcelona Center. She is also a collaborator in the FCB 2017 muscle injury guide and MLG-R classification of muscle injury and a collaborator of several research projects of the Barça Innovation Hub. Before all of these achivements, she was a PhD Student at the “Departament de Cirurgia i Ortopèdia”, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Presentation Title: The Role of MRI in Muscle Injury: Prevention, Prognosis and Return to Play
Muscle injuries account for 1/3 of all injuries suffered by professional football players. It can cause, depending on the location and severity, a long period off from playing. The T2 mapping MR technique is capable of being key in detecting abnormal muscle activation patterns that indicate the need to apply specific prevention programs and avoid possible injuries. On the other hand, in the event of most muscle injuries, MR has a primary role to obtain a precise diagnosis to decide the prognosis of the injury. This primary role continues in the follow-up and participates in the final decision to return to competition.