Sports related hamstring strains--two cases with different etiologies and injury sites

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