OBJECTIVE Calf complex injuries represent a significant injury burden among Australian Rules athletes. To date, there has been limited research correlating clinical and radiological findings of pathology within the calf. The objective of this study is to determine how accurately magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings correlate with clinical measures of calf muscle complex pathology in elite male athletes. MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective cohort study was conducted on Australian rules elite athletes. A cohort of 45 athletes underwent a high-load training session of approximately 10 km of running. Athletes were then assessed by a sports physiotherapist who made a diagnosis of no pathology, delayed onset muscle soreness, strain or other. Subsequently, the athletes underwent MRI of their bilateral calf complexes. Radiologists interpreted the MRI findings and radiological diagnosis were correlated with clinical diagnosis. RESULTS A total of 90 calf MRIs were performed. Correlation of clinical and radiological diagnosis occurred in 57 cases. Of the 33 cases which did not correlate, there were 4 radiologically significant acute calf strains in clinically asymptomatic athletes, 3 of which involved old scar tissue. CONCLUSION MRI may detect clinically insignificant injuries within the calf complex. If an athlete does not have any clinically relevant symptoms, abnormal signal on MRI may represent a different diagnosis to muscle strain. Signal change on MRI proximal to scar tissue may represent reactive oedema. Clinical history and examination should be correlated with radiological findings is recommended when diagnosing calf injury in elite athletes.

中文翻译：

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在评估澳大利亚精英男子足球运动员小腿受伤中的相关临床评估和MRI检查结果。

目的小腿综合损伤是澳大利亚规则运动员的重伤负担。迄今为止，关于小腿内病理的临床和放射学发现的研究还很有限。这项研究的目的是确定磁共振成像（MRI）的发现与精英男运动员小腿肌肉复杂病理的临床测量之间的准确度如何。材料与方法对澳大利亚规则精英运动员进行了一项前瞻性队列研究。一组45名运动员接受了大约10公里跑步的高负荷训练。然后由一名运动理疗师对运动员进行评估，他被诊断为无病理，迟发性肌肉酸痛，劳损或其他症状。随后，运动员对双侧小腿复合体进行了MRI检查。放射科医生解释了MRI的发现，放射诊断与临床诊断相关。结果总共进行了90次小腿MRI检查。临床和放射学诊断的相关性发生了57例。在无关联的33例病例中，有4例在放射学上无临床症状的急性小腿菌株，其中3例涉及旧的疤痕组织。结论MRI可以检测出小腿复合体的临床意义不明显的损伤。如果运动员没有任何临床相关症状，则MRI上的异常信号可能代表与肌肉劳损不同的诊断。疤痕组织附近的MRI上的信号变化可能代表反应性水肿。诊断精英运动员的小腿损伤时，建议将临床病史和检查与影像学检查结果相关联。