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Cerebral and Cognitive Impact of Female Professional SoccerPractice

Cerebral and Cognitive Modifications in Retired Female Professional Soccer Players as Compared to Non Exposed to Repeated Cranial Impacts Sportswomen : Transverse Analytic Study

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06788262
Acronym
TCFOOT F
Enrollment
80
Registered
2025-01-23
Start date
2025-09-13
Completion date
2027-06-15
Last updated
2026-08-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Traumatic Chronic Encephalopathy

Keywords

soccer, MRI, head traumatism, neuropsychology, traumatic chronic encephalopathy

Brief summary

The objective of this study is to evaluate, using MRI, the microstructural consequences and the onset of any cognitive impairment in female 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 female soccer players' cognitive skills. The main evaluation criterion corresponds to the modifications found on MRI in the female 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 female 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.

Interventions

Cerebral MRI

Sponsors

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SCREENING
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
32 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Exposed high-level athletes: female professional soccer players at the end of their career (32- years old) playing in France Ligue 1 or 2 exposed to repeated mild head injuries with no history of severe head injury or cerebral * Female High-level athletes not exposed to repeated mild head injuries: control group paired for age with female professional soccer players, who have never regularly participated in sports exposing them to head injuries (notably rugby, basketball, handball, American football, hockey, combat sports, etc.) and who have no history of head injury, even mild. Female Professional tennis players or former players will be preferentially recruited.

Exclusion criteria

* 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 * History of severe head/brain injury; * History of neurological or psychiatric disorder; * Known cerebral abnormality diagnosed by an imaging exam (CT or MRI); * History or regular or occasional consumption of drugs, unweaned active smoking or weaned for less than 1 year, excessive consumption of alcohol (\> 20 g alcohol per day, evaluated with the formula "degree of alcohol × volume in cl × 8/1000"), weaned or not. * Usage of medication targeting the central nervous system in the 2 weeks preceding inclusion in the study; * Prior history of severe hypertension, diabetes, chronic heart disease, progressive or disabling disease; * Contraindication to MRI (claustrophobia, implanted material not compatible with MRI, refusal to be informed of abnormality discovered on MRI)

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Cerebral MRI Microstructural abnormalitiesDay 1Abnormalities on MRI in professional soccer players exposed to repeated mild head injuries, potentially related to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, compared to high-level athletes who are not exposed to head injuries. This is a study assessing the relation between exposure to mild head injuries during soccer play in professional players and the onset of MRI and neuropsychological abnormalities. The main evaluation criterion corresponds to the quantitative MRI modifications (professional soccer player group compared with control group).

Countries

France

Contacts

CONTACTStéphane KREMER, MD
stephane.kremer@chru-strasbourg.fr03 88 12 78 48
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORStéphane KREMER, MD

HOPITAUX UNIVERSITAIRES DE STRASBOURG

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Aug 21, 2026