Testing for chronic traumatic encephalopathy among former professional football players

A new study showed that positron emission tomography (PET) with the radiotracer (18F)-Flortaucipir (FTP) to detect hyperphosphorylated Tau (p-tau) may not be appropriate for diagnosing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) neuropathologic changes in former professional American-style football players. The study is published in Journal of Neurotrauma. Click here to read the article now.

Aaron Baggish, MD, from Massachusetts General Hospital, and coauthors, conducted a study that compared former professional players to age-matched male control participants who did not have repetitive head impact exposure. There were no significant differences in (18F)-FTP uptake among former players compared to control participants. Among the players, there were no associations between objective measures of neurocognitive functioning and (18F)-FTP uptake

“The absence of increased [18F]-FTP uptake in brain regions previously implicated in CTE among former professional ASF players compared to controls questions the utility of [18F]-FTP PET for clinical evaluation in this population,” concluded the authors.

“My congratulations to Dr. Dhaynaut, Dr. Grashow, and colleagues for performing a rigorous and well-executed study of (18F)-Flortaucipir PET in former professional American football players," says David L. Brody, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Neurotrauma. “The negative results are important, and not surprising given the well-known differences between the abnormal tau folds seen in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy compared to those seen in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. I am especially impressed by the rigor of the study design.”

About the Journal
Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. Emphasis is on the basic pathobiology of injury to the nervous system, and the papers and reviews evaluate preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving the early management and long-term care and recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma is the official journal of the National Neurotrauma Society and the International Neurotrauma Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Neurotrauma website. 

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a global media company dedicated to creating, curating, and delivering impactful peer-reviewed research and authoritative content services to advance the fields of biotechnology and the life sciences, specialized clinical medicine, public health and policy, and technology and engineering. For further information, please visit the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website.