Prevalence of traumatic findings on routine MRI in a large cohort of professional fighters

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Previous studies investigating MR imaging abnormalities among fighters have had small sample sizes. This investigation assessed a large number of fighters using the same conventional sequences on the same scanner. Materials and Methods: Conventional 3T MR imaging was used to assess 499 fighters (boxers, mixed martial artists, and martial artists) and 62 controls for nonspecificWMchanges, cerebral microhemorrhage, cavum septum pellucidum, and cavum vergae. The lengths of the cavum septum pellucidum and cavum vergae and the ratio of cavum septum pellucidum to the septum pellucidum lengths were assessed. Results: The prevalence of nonspecific WM changes was similar between groups. Fighters had a prevalence of cerebral microhemorrhage (4.2% versus 0% for controls, P = .152). Fighters had a higher prevalence of cavum septum pellucidum versus controls (53.1% versus 17.7%, P < .001), cavum septum pellucidum (P = .025), and cavum septum pellucidum to the septum pellucidum length ratio (P < .009) were higher in fighters than in controls. The number of fights slightly correlated with cavum septum pellucidum plus cavum vergae length (R=0.306,