Cerebral and Cognitive Impact of Professional Soccer Practice

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexMale
Age32-55
SponsorUniversity Hospital, Strasbourg, France

About this trial

The objective of this study is to evaluate, using MRI, the microstructural consequences and the onset of any cognitive impairment in professional soccer players at the end of their career, who have experienced repeated minor head injuries. Over the long term, these head injuries could lead to morphological lesions and have an impact on soccer players' cognitive skills.

The main evaluation criterion corresponds to the modifications found on MRI in the professional soccer player group (diffusion tensor, cerebral perfusion, fMRI, cerebral volumetry and cortical thickness, spectroscopy, susceptibility imaging).

This is an exposure/nonexposure study assessing the onset of MRI abnormalities (diffusion tensor, cerebral perfusion, fMRI, volumetry and cortical thickness, spectroscopy, susceptibility imaging) in professional soccer players exposed to repeated mild head injuries, who are either at the end of their career or retired for approximately 10 years, compared to high-level athletes not exposed to head injuries.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

None

Disqualifiers

Refusal to participate in the study;

refusal to be informed of abnormalities on MRI

Incapacity to give informed consent or under a legal protection order;

History of cerebral concussion including the presence after head shock of one or more of the following signs or symptoms: a period of confusion or disorientation, a period of loss of consciousness of 30 minutes or less, post-traumatic amnesia not exceeding 24 hours

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • MRI

Treatment groups

80 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups