Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep 15:13:947419.
doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.947419. eCollection 2022.

Biceps femoris long head morphology in youth competitive alpine skiers is associated with age, biological maturation and traumatic lower extremity injuries

Daniel P Fitze  1   2 , Martino V Franchi  1   3 , Stefan Fröhlich  1   2 , Walter O Frey  1   2 , Jörg Spörri  1   2
Affiliations

Biceps femoris long head morphology in youth competitive alpine skiers is associated with age, biological maturation and traumatic lower extremity injuries

Daniel P Fitze et al. Front Physiol. .

Abstract

Lower extremity injuries are common in competitive alpine skiers, and the knee and lower leg are often affected. The hamstring muscles, especially the biceps femoris long head (BFlh), can stabilize the knee and the hip and may counteract various adverse loading patterns during typical mechanisms leading to severe lower extremity injuries. The aim of the present study was to describe BFlh morphology in youth competitive alpine skiers in relation to sex, age and biological maturation and to investigate its association with the occurrence of traumatic lower extremity injuries in the upcoming season. 95 youth skiers underwent anthropometric measurements, maturity offset estimations and ultrasound assessment, followed by 12-months prospective injury surveillance. Unpaired t tests showed that the two sexes did not differ in BFlh morphology, including fascicle length (Lf), pennation angle (PA), muscle thickness (MT) and average anatomical cross-sectional area (ACSAavg). In contrast, U16 skiers had longer fascicles than U15 skiers (9.5 ± 1.3 cm vs 8.9 ± 1.3 cm, p < 0.05). Linear regression analyses revealed that maturity offset was associated with Lf (R 2 = 0.129, p < 0.001), MT (R 2 = 0.244, p < 0.001) and ACSAavg (R 2 = 0.065, p = 0.007). No association was found between maturity offset and PA (p = 0.524). According to a binary logistic regression analysis, ACSAavg was significantly associated with the occurrence of traumatic lower extremity injuries (Chi-square = 4.627, p = 0.031, RNagelkerke 2 = 0.064, Cohen f = 0.07). The present study showed that BFlh morphology is age- and biological maturation-dependent and that BFlh ACSAavg can be considered a relevant modifiable variable associated with lower extremity injuries in youth competitive alpine skiers.

Keywords: alpine ski racing; hamstrings; injury prevention; muscle morphology; ultrasound imaging; youth athletes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Exemplary ultrasound scans. (A) Longitudinal scan; (B) transversal scans.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Linear regression analyses assessing the association of variables related to biceps femoris long head morphology with biological maturation (i.e., the maturity offset) in competitive alpine skiers around the growth spurt (i.e., U16 skiers). Lf: fascicle length; PA: pennation angle; MT: muscle thickness; ACSAavg: average anatomical cross-sectional area.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abe T., Kumagai K., Brechue W. F. (2000). Fascicle length of leg muscles is greater in sprinters than distance runners. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 32, 1125–1129. 10.1097/00005768-200006000-00014 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Andersen L. L., Aagaard P. (2006). Influence of maximal muscle strength and intrinsic muscle contractile properties on contractile rate of force development. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 96, 46–52. 10.1007/s00421-005-0070-z - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bere T., Florenes T. W., Krosshaug T., Koga H., Nordsletten L., Irving C., et al. (2011). Mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament injury in world cup alpine skiing: A systematic video analysis of 20 cases. Am. J. Sports Med. 39, 1421–1429. 10.1177/0363546511405147 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bere T., Mok K. M., Koga H., Krosshaug T., Nordsletten L., Bahr R. (2013). Kinematics of anterior cruciate ligament ruptures in world cup alpine skiing: 2 case reports of the slip-catch mechanism. Am. J. Sports Med. 41, 1067–1073. 10.1177/0363546513479341 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beynnon B. D., Hall J. S., Sturnick D. R., Desarno M. J., Gardner-Morse M., Tourville T. W., et al. (2014). Increased slope of the lateral tibial plateau subchondral bone is associated with greater risk of noncontact ACL injury in females but not in males: A prospective cohort study with a nested, matched case-control analysis. Am. J. Sports Med. 42, 1039–1048. 10.1177/0363546514523721 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources