Magnetic resonance imaging and bone metabolism markers for early diagnosis of stress fracture.

< MRI for stress fracture > Early diagnosis and treatment for stress fractures are important to enable a return to full athletic activities as soon as possible. We investigated the early diagnostic efficacy of MRI for stress fractures. Subjects were 38 patients (39 limbs)whose ages ranged from 12 to 27 years(mean, 20 years). Each patient was examined by MRI, plain radiography, and bone scintigraphy during the same period. The signal change was more evident in the femur and lateral malleolus and tarsal navicular bone, but, signal changes of tibia stress fractures were varied. The subjects examined by MRI within 2 weeks from onset showed obvious signal change, but their plain radiograms at the same time revealed no abnormalities. These subjects diagnosed in the early stage by MRI could return to sports earlier than those diagnosed 4 or more weeks after onset. < Bone metabolism markers(BMM)and bone mineral density(BMD)for stress fracture > We investigated the bone metabolism markers(BMM)and bone mineral density(BMD)in female long-distance runners of a university. Subjects were 14 female runners. As BMM, we investigated PICP, osteocalcin, AL-P(bone), DPD, and NTx. As BMD, femoral neck, knee and lumber vertebrae were investigated at the stage between rest and hard training. In runners with amenorrhea or with stress fracture, NTx was markedly higher and BMD was lower than in female runners with normal menstruation. These factors are good markers for studying the condition of female runners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]