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Differences in Achilles tendon mechanical properties between professional ballet dancers and collegiate athletes utilizing shear wave elastography

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Abstract

Purpose

To report normative stiffness parameters obtained using shear wave elastography in dorsiflexion from the Achilles tendons in asymptomatic professional ballet dancers and compare them with college-level athletes.

Methods

An Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved study consists of 28 professional ballet dancers and 64 asymptomatic collegiate athletes. The athletes were further subdivided into runner and non-runner disciplines. Shear wave elastography (SWE) measurements were made in maximum ankle dorsiflexion position.

Results and discussion

Forty-eight (52%) males and 44 (48%) females were examined with an overall mean age of 22.2 (± 3.8 years). There were no significant SWE differences between dominant and non-dominant legs in both groups and comparing spin vs. non-spin leg of ballet dancers (p > 0.05). Ballet dancers had significantly higher short-axis velocity values than runners and non-runners (2.34 m/s increase and 2.79 m/s increase, respectively, p < 0.001). Long-axis velocity was significantly higher in ballet dancers compared to non-runners (by 0.80 m/s, p < 0.001), but was not different between ballet dancers and runners (p > 0.05). Short-axis modulus was significantly higher in dancers compared to runners and non-runners (by 135.2 kPa and 159.2 kPa, respectively, p < 0.001). Long-axis modulus (LAM) was not significantly different in ballet dancers when compared to runners.

Conclusion

Asymptomatic professional ballet dancers exhibit greater short-axis tendon stiffness compared to athletes and greater long-axis tendon stiffness compared to non-runners but similar to runners. The functional benefit from elevated short-axis stiffness in dancers is not clear but may be related to greater axial loading and adaptations of the tendon matrix.

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Data Availability

We are committed to transparency and reproducibility of our research. The data that supports the findings of this study are available and can be obtained upon request from the corresponding author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AdventHealth Radiology Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Felix M. Gonzalez & Christopher Wasyliw

  2. Department of Orthopaedics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Courtney N. Gleason & David A. Reiter

  3. Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Andrew Tran

  4. Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Andrew Tran

  5. Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Benjamin B. Risk

  6. Atlanta Dance Medicine, Roswell, GA, USA

    Emma S. Faulkner & Amanda M. Blackmon

  7. Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    David A. Reiter

  8. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, USA

    David A. Reiter

Authors
  1. Felix M. Gonzalez
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  2. Courtney N. Gleason
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  4. Christopher Wasyliw
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  6. Emma S. Faulkner
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  7. Amanda M. Blackmon
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  8. David A. Reiter
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Correspondence to Felix M. Gonzalez.

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Gonzalez, F.M., Gleason, C.N., Tran, A. et al. Differences in Achilles tendon mechanical properties between professional ballet dancers and collegiate athletes utilizing shear wave elastography. Skeletal Radiol 53, 1381–1388 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-024-04564-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-024-04564-z

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