ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To determine whether hip range of movement (ROM) can predict the occurrence of adductor strain among male professional soccer players. METHODS: 120 subjects were prospectively selected from 6 professional soccer clubs in Australia. Internal rotation, external rotation, and ROM of the hip were measured using a goniometer before and during the course of a soccer season (2003-2004). When adductor strain occurred, further assessments of the hip were performed. Injured subjects' hip ROMs were measured again at the end of the season. RESULTS: Eight of the 120 subjects had 9 adductor strains (one bilateral). There was a correlation between preseason decreased hip ROM and occurrence of adductor strain. The mean preseason hip ROM was 44.7 degrees in the injured group and 53.7 degrees in the uninjured group. Once the subjects were able to resume playing soccer, their hip ROM increased to near pre-injury levels. CONCLUSION: Decreased hip ROM may be considered an aetiological factor in the occurrence of adductor strain in male professional soccer players.
Subject(s)
Hip Joint/physiology , Range of Motion, Articular , Soccer/injuries , Soccer/physiology , Sprains and Strains/epidemiology , Adult , Australia/epidemiology , Humans , Incidence , Male , Sprains and Strains/physiopathologyABSTRACT
Three hundred and fifty cases of "natural" sudden death within six hours of onset of symptoms in people ranging in age from 18 to 69 years in Wandsworth were studied using a detailed necropsy protocol to determine the cause of death. Sudden death occurred in 28 (8%) Asians and blacks, but because of the small number they were excluded from the study, leaving 322 cases. Ischaemic heart disease accounted for 189 (59%) of the 322 sudden deaths (155 (65%) men; 34 (41%) women) and no proportional increase in instantaneous compared with non-instantaneous sudden death was found. Non-ischaemic cardiac disease was the cause of sudden death in 24 cases (7.5%). Non-cardiac disease included pulmonary emboli, aortic aneurysms, and intracerebral haemorrhage and caused 89 (27.6%) deaths. Alcohol was the cause of nine deaths (2.8%) and in 11 (3.4%) cases (six men and five women) no cause of death was found. This study shows that although ischaemic heart disease is the single largest cause of sudden natural death there are other major causes.
Subject(s)
Cause of Death , Death, Sudden/etiology , Adult , Aged , Alcoholism/complications , Central Nervous System Diseases/complications , Coronary Disease/complications , Death, Sudden/epidemiology , England , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Respiratory Tract Diseases/complications , WalesABSTRACT
A specific search for intramyocardial platelet aggregates was made in 90 patients who died suddenly of ischemic heart disease. Platelet aggregates in small intramyocardial vessels were found in 27 (30%). There was a significant difference (p less than .05) in the incidence of platelet aggregates in patients with chest pain of recent onset (unstable angina) before death (16/36, 44.4%) and that in those without it (11/54, 20.4%). Multifocal microscopic necrosis with involvement of the full thickness of the ventricular wall, including the subpericardial zone, was significantly more common (p = less than .005) in the patients with platelet emboli (55.6% vs 12.7%). With one exception, aggregates were confined to the segment of myocardium immediately downstream of a major epicardial coronary artery containing an atheromatous plaque that had undergone fissuring and on which mural thrombus had developed. The results support the view that platelet aggregates in the myocardium represent an embolic phenomenon and are a potential cause of unstable angina. The association of myocardial necrosis with such emboli could precipitate sudden death from ventricular fibrillation.
