What we know and do not know about chronic traumatic encephalopathy in sport

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Sports Medicine

What we know and do not know about chronic traumatic encephalopathy in sport

31 March 2021

Steve Targett

Wednesday 31 March 2021, 12:35 AM

A primary physical manifestation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a reduction in brain weight

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder linked to repetitive brain trauma, such as blows to the head in contact sport. Here, sports physician Steve Targett simplifies the current understanding of this complex and somewhat controversial topic

Key points, Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is associated with a clinical features, so diagnosis can only be made post-mortem by identifying typical pathological

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Neurology

References

Corsellis J, Bruton C, Freeman-Browne D. The aftermath of boxing. Psychol Med 1973;3:270–303.
Omalu BI, DeKosky ST, Minster RL, et al. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a National Football League player. Neurosurgery 2005;57(1):128–34.
McKee AC, Cairns NJ, Dickson DW, et al. The first NINDS/NIBIB consensus meeting to define neuropathological criteria for the diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Acta Neuropathol 2016;131(1):75–86.
Mackay DF, Russell ER, Stewart K, et al. Neurodegenerative disease mortality among former professional soccer players. N Engl J Med 2019;381(19):1801–08.
Russell ER, McCabe T, Mackay DF, et al. Mental health and suicide in former professional soccer players. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2020;91(12):1256–60.
Livingston G, Huntley J, Sommerlad A, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. Lancet 2020;396(10248):413–46.

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