Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a National Football League Player
Top Cited Papers
- 1 March 2010
- journal article
- case report
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Journal of Forensic Nursing
- Vol. 6 (1), 40-46
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-3938.2009.01064.x
Abstract
We present a case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a retired National Football League (NFL) Player with autopsy findings, apolipoprotein E genotype, and brain tissue evidence of chronic brain damage. This 44-year-old retired NFL player manifested a premortem history of cognitive and neuropsychiatric impairment, which included in part, chronic depression, suicide attempts, insomnia, paranoia, and impaired memory before he finally committed suicide. A full autopsy was performed with Polymerase Chain Reaction-based analyses of his blood to determine the apolipoprotein genotype. Histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses were performed on topographical gross sections of the brain. Autopsy confirmed a fatal gunshot wound of the head. The apolipoprotein E genotype was E3/E3 and the brain tissue revealed diffuse cerebral taupathy (Neurofibrillary Tangles and Neuritic Threads). This will be the third case of CTE in a national football player, which has been reported in the medical literature. Omalu et al., reported the first two cases in 2005 and 2006. This case series manifested similar premortem history of neuropsychiatric impairment with autopsy evidence of cerebral taupathy without any neuritic amyloidopathy. For a definitive diagnosis of CTE to be made, and for medicolegal purposes, a full autopsy must be performed with histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses of the brain to identify the presence of Neurofibrillary Tangles (NFTs) and Neuritic Threads (NTs). Further longitudinal prospective studies are required to confirm the common denominators and epidemiology of CTE in professional American football players, which have been identified by this case series.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Quantitative analysis of neurofibrillary pathology in a general population to reappraise neuropathological criteria for senile dementia of the neurofibrillary tangle type (tangle‐only dementia): The Hisayama studyNeuropathology, 2006
- Cleaved-Tau: A Biomarker of Neuronal Damage after Traumatic Brain InjuryJournal of Neurotrauma, 2005
- Neuronal cytoskeletal changes are an early consequence of repetitive head injuryActa Neuropathologica, 1999
- Low prevalence of apolipoprotein E ε4 allele in the neurofibrillary tangle predominant form of senile dementiaActa Neuropathologica, 1997
- Neurofibrillary tangles, but not Alzheimer‐type pathology, in a young boxerNeuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 1996
- The relationship of APOE polymorphism and cholesterol levels in normoglycemic and diabetic subjects in a biethnic population from the San Luis Valley, ColoradoAtherosclerosis, 1995
- Genetic susceptibility and head injury as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease among community‐dwelling elderly persons and their first‐degree relativesAnnals of Neurology, 1993
- Post–traumatic Alzheimer's disease: preponderance of a single plaque typeNeuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 1991
- The delayed neurobehavioural sequelae of traumatic brain injuryBrain Injury, 1991
- Head Trauma as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer's Disease: A Collaborative Re-Analysis of Case-Control StudiesInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 1991