Imaging of physeal stress in the upper extremity (Ab)normal redefined

Repetitive stress applied to the upper extremities during sports participation can lead to physeal stress injuries of the shoulder, elbow and wrist in young athletes. These injuries should be identified as early as possible to prevent long term consequences. Furthermore, athletes require detailed information regarding status of injury and expected time of recovery. The research in this thesis aims to redefine the normal appearance of the forearm in healthy adolescents, describe the effects of extensive stress on the morphologic appearance of the wrist in asymptomatic athletes and identify imaging characteristics able to establish the presence of physeal stress injury. In addition, several quantitative imaging features are explored that may be used as biomarker for the presence of physeal stress in the upper extremity.