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Background: Acute and chronic cartilage injuries are often encountered in professional and recreational athletes. They can compromise the athlete's performance and career and are considered a potential risk factor for early joint degeneration., Objectives: Incidence of cartilage injury in athletes, understanding of cartilage composition, injury mechanism and suitable diagnostic imaging are summarized and established therapeutic procedures, postoperative imaging including detection of relevant complications and assessment of reasonable indications for follow-up examinations are described., Methods: Original research and review articles were analyzed., Results: Cartilage injury can mimic meniscal or ligamentous injury and cannot be ruled out by clinical examination alone. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the method of choice to (1) detect (sensitivity 87-93%, specificity 94-99%) and grade cartilage lesions to facilitate choice of therapy and (2) to exclude concomitant injuries that require treatment to improve the prognosis of the chosen cartilage therapy. Postoperatively MRI allows noninvasive assessment of the repaired cartilage tissue and is an appropriate method to detect therapeutically relevant complications., Conclusions: Knowledge of mechanisms and appearance of cartilage injuries, current cartilage repair techniques and their imaging is crucial for the medical care of athletes., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Nasal fracture is a common form of ear, nose and throat (ENT) trauma with prompt referral required for assessment and potentially manipulation of nasal bones. The aetiology of nasal fracture is multifactorial, and injury occurs across all ages. Previous study has suggested a temporal relationship between nasal injury and major sporting events., Methods: A total of 1966 adult patients with nasal injuries referred to emergency clinics across three London ENT centres between September 2016 and August 2019 were analysed., Results: The majority of those referred were male (66.58%). Mean age at referral was 36.29±18.38 in males and 49.14±21.43 in females; 10.27% were 75 years and over. Incidence was highest during April-September 2018 ( p =0.02). Mean incidence was higher in this period in the male 16-35 subgroup ( p =0.039), with 53.1% of their injuries concentrated between Friday and Sunday., Conclusions: Most nasal injuries occurred in young males. Mean age at referral was higher in females, and there was slightly increased incidence in over-75s, predominantly females. This incidence could be due to increased longevity or greater tendency to injury in females of this age. The injury patterns across the week also differed, with males injured proportionately more at the weekend. Nasal injury referrals of young men increased around the 2018 summer period, coinciding with the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This lends support to the association between major sporting events and the incidence of nasal injury, particularly in young males.

Clinical Issue: Today's advanced MRI imaging allows for a precise diagnosis and thus better treatment planning of cartilage damage. The phrase "depending on intraoperative findings" is therefore slowly becoming a thing of the past. However, this also increases the demand for an exact interpretation of the imaging, from clinicians and patients alike. This article highlights the importance of a radiologist's role in different constellations., Practical Recommendations: In the case of acute injuries, it is crucial to recognize osteochondral flakes, cartilage delamination, subchondral bone bruising and fractures as well as concomitant injuries. These findings must be instantly communicated to the practitioner. In the case of chronic cartilage damage, grading the extent and size of the damage is decisive in choosing the appropriate therapy method. Possible causes and accompanying injuries must also be analyzed and, if necessary, addressed. Direct communication with the clinical colleague is also useful in correlating the clinical and radiological findings.