Sports related hamstring strains - two cases with different etiologies andinjury sites

Hamstring strains are common injuries in sports. Knowledge about their etio logy and localization is, however, limited, The two cases described here bo th had acute hamstring strains, but the etiologies were entirely different. The sprinter was injured when running at maximal speed, whereas the hamstr ing strain in the dancer occurred during slow stretching. Also the anatomic al localizations of the injuries clearly differed. Magnetic resonance imagi ng (MRI) revealed pathological changes in the distal semitendinosus muscle in the sprinter and the proximal tendon of the semimembranosus muscle in th e dancer. Subjectively, both athletes severely underestimated the recovery time. These case observations suggest a possible link between etiology and localization of hamstring strains.