Prevalence of degenerative vertebral disc changes in elite female Crossfit athletes - a cross-sectional study

• Published in: BMC musculoskeletal disorders 2023-12, Vol.24 (1), p.963-963, Article 963
• Main Authors: Wegner, Mathis, Backhauß, Jan-Christoph, Michalsky, Yannik, Seesko, Henrik, Hensler, Johannes, Klueter, Tim, Jansen, Olav, Seekamp, Andreas, Lippross, Sebastian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3.0 Tesla MRI; Asymptomatic; Athletes; Back pain; Care and treatment; Classification; Crossfit; Degeneration; Degenerative disc disease; Diagnosis; Female athletes; Females; Health aspects; Hernia; Intervertebral discs; Intervertebral disk; Intervertebral disk displacement; Magnetic resonance imaging; Olympic games; Pathology; Pfirrmann grading; Questionnaires; Risk factors; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal stenosis; Spine; Sports injuries; Sports training; Strength training; Vertebrae; Weightlifting; Women athletes
• ISSN: 1471-2474; 1471-2474
• DOI: 10.1186/s12891-023-07071-9

Crossfit athletes consistently recruit or transfer high levels of repetitive forces through the spine, and MRI has documented a higher rate of intervertebral disc degeneration in athletes compared with matched controls. The aim of this study was to evaluate early degenerative spinal disc changes in elite female CrossFit athletes quantified by 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) matched with female none-athletes. In a cross-sectional single-center study 19 asymptomatic adult participants, nine German female elite Crossfit athletes and ten female participants underwent spinal MRI (3.0T). Demographic data, spinal clinical examination results and sport-specific performance parameters were collected prior to the MRI. The primary outcome was the prevalence of degenerative spinal disc changes. The secondary outcome was the grade of degeneration using Pfirrmann grading. A total of 437 discs underwent spinal MRI (3.0T). The prevalence of early degenerative disc disease was not increased. Pfirrmann degenerative grade did not show significant differences among groups. Asymptomatic female elite Crossfit athletes do not show an increased prevalence of degenerative disc disease. Compared to a sex-matched control group, high training volume in Crossfit does not correlate to a higher incidence of degenerative disc changes in young females.