Hip Joint Cartilage Defects in Professional Ballet Dancers: A 5-year Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE A causal link between ballet, hip pain, and pathology has not been established. Change in ballet dancers' hip pain and cartilage defect scores were investigated over 5 years. DESIGN Longitudinal. SETTING Professional ballet company. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-one professional ballet dancers (52% men). INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Baseline and follow-up Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS-pain subscale); incidence of hip-related pain and levels of dance participation collected daily over 5 years; bony morphology measured on baseline 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Change in cartilage defect score on MRI between baseline and 5-year follow-up. RESULTS Cartilage scores did not increase in 19 (90%) dancers. There was one new cartilage defect and one progressed in severity. At follow-up, all 6 dancers with cartilage defects were men. Group HAGOS pain scores were high 97.5 (7.5) and not related to cartilage defects (P = 0.12). Five (83%) dancers with baseline cartilage defects reported HAGOS pain scores