Femur 3D-DXA Assessment in Female Football Players, Swimmers, and
                    Sedentary Controls

Amineh Amani; Montse Bellver; Luis del Rio; Joan Ramon Torrella; Antonia Lizarraga; Ludovic Humbert; Franchek Drobnic

doi:10.1055/a-1928-9824

International Journal of Sports Medicine, Table of Contents

Int J Sports Med 2023; 44(06): 420-426
DOI: 10.1055/a-1928-9824

Physiology & Biochemistry

Femur 3D-DXA Assessment in Female Football Players, Swimmers, and Sedentary Controls

Amineh Amani‡

¹Cellular Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Biologia, Barcelona, Spain

²Centre Mèdic, CETIR, Barcelona, Spain

,

Montse Bellver‡

³Sports Medicine, Centre Alt Rendiment Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain

,

Luis del Rio

²Centre Mèdic, CETIR, Barcelona, Spain

,

Joan Ramon Torrella

¹Cellular Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Biologia, Barcelona, Spain

,

Antonia Lizarraga

⁴Medical Services, Futbol Club Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

,

Ludovic Humbert

⁵Musculoskeletal Unit, Galgo Medical, Barcelona, Spain

,

Franchek Drobnic

³Sports Medicine, Centre Alt Rendiment Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain

⁶Medical Department, Shanghai Shenhau FC, Shanghai, China

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Cortical and trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), cortical thickness and surface BMD (sBMD, density-to-thickness ratio) were analyzed in the proximal femur of elite female football players and artistic swimmers using three-dimensional dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (3D-DXA) software and compared to sedentary controls. Football players had significantly higher (p<0.05) vBMD (mg/cm³) in the trabecular (263±44) and cortical femur (886±69) than artistic swimmers (224±43 and 844±89) and sedentary controls (215±51 and 841±85). Football players had also higher (p<0.05) cortical thickness (2.12±0.19 mm) and sBMD (188±22 mg/cm²) compared to artistic swimmers (1.85±0.15 and 156±21) and sedentary controls (1.87±0.16 and 158±23). Artistic swimmers did not show significant differences in any parameter analyzed for 3D-DXA when compared to sedentary controls. The 3D-DXA modeling revealed statistical differences in cortical thickness and vBMD between female athletes engaged in weight-bearing (football) and non-weight bearing (swimming) sports and did not show differences between the non-weight bearing sport and the sedentary controls. 3D-DXA modeling could provide insight into bone remodeling in the sports field, allowing evaluation of femoral trabecular and cortical strength from standard DXA scans.

Key words

3D analysis - bone health - exercise

Full Text

References

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