Pathologic and Clinical Signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

These researchers conducted a postmortem case series study to determine the presence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and other degenerative neurological diseases in 85 subjects with repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI; age range, 17–98).

CTE was defined as perivascular foci of p-tau astrocytic and neurofibrillary tangles that are irregularly distributed (but biased toward the depth of cerebral sulci); clusters of tangles in cerebral cortex, diencephalon, basal ganglia, and brainstem; and tangles in superficial layers of cerebral cortex. Clinical assessments were based on history, medical record review, and next-of-kin interviews made independently of neuropathological examinations.

Neuropathological evidence of CTE was foun…