Sports Injuries and Imaging in Children

Children differ in many aspects from adults—for example, anatomy (ductus arteriosus Botalli, foramen ovale, different body proportions such as head predominance, etc.); physiology (circulation, lung mechanics);and metabolism. Most of those differences can be explained by growth and maturation. In the course from infant to adults, children gain motoric competence through several stages. Each of them predisposes children, in combination with maturation changes, to typical injuries. The article of Zwick and Kocher describe the consequences. Different sporting activities of children and youngsters can also induce specific injury patterns. The contributions of Marshall, Broadley and Offiah, Wegmann et al, Singer et al, and Ghahremani et al focus on that topic.

In children with disabilities, it must be taken into account that even everyday activities can be regarded as physically exhausting comparable with sports in nondisabled children. The article by Kraus et al offers insights into the injury patterns of those children and enhances our understanding of trauma changes in these complex multimorbid young patients.

In all the articles in this issue, the authors have taken care to explain the pathophysiology of the described injuries as well as the role of imaging and diagnostic findings. I thank them for their contributions.