Extending the range of differential diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy of the boxer: Insights from a case report

Management of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated head injury. The common presenting neuropsychiatric manifestations and diagnostic strategies for early diagnosis and subsequent treatment will be reviewed. This article discusses methods for injury prevention, risk assessment, and methods for supportive symptom management including lifestyle modifications, physical, occupational, and neurorehabilitation, and pharmaceutical management. Lastly, we propose the use of assessment tools validated for other neurodegenerative disorders in CTE to establish a baseline, track outcomes, and measure improvement in this population.

Pharmacological interventions in corticobasal degeneration: a review

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a sporadic tauopathy that presents with a varied combination of motor, cognitive, and behavioral features, making its diagnosis difficult. CBD has high morbidity and poor prognosis, with no effective therapy at present. We searched the PubMed/MEDLINE database for articles published from 1990 to 2019, using the keywords “corticobasal degeneration” AND “treatment.” The PRISMA method was adopted. Retrieved articles were characterized as having one of two methodological approaches: (1) studies aimed at primary tauopathy treatment and (2) symptomatic management. Review articles (based on CBD expert groups), case reports, case series, and pilot clinical trials were selected. Few attempts have been made to study drug options and drug efficacy in CBD systematically, and an effective treatment is not yet available. Treatment is symptomatic and based on similarity with other diseases due to the scarcity of studies specifically addressing CBD. CBD seems not to spark interest in more clinical trials for its low prevalence and reliability in clinical diagnosis.

Emerging advances of in vivo detection of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is of epidemic proportions in contact sports athletes and is linked to subconcussive and concussive repetitive head impacts (RHI). Although postmortem analysis is currently the only confirmatory method to diagnose CTE, there has been progress in early detection techniques of fluid biomarkers as well as in advanced neuroimaging techniques. Specifically, promising new methods of diffusion MRI and radionucleotide PET scans could aid in the early detection of CTE.The authors examine early detection methods focusing on various neuroimaging techniques. Advances in structural and diffusion MRI have demonstrated the ability to measure volumetric and white matter abnormalities associated with CTE. Recent studies using radionucleotides such as flortaucipir and ¹⁸F-FDDNP have shown binding patterns that are consistent with the four stages of neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) distribution postmortem. Additional research undertakings focusing on fMRI, MR spectroscopy, susceptibility-weighted imaging, and singlephoton emission CT are also discussed as are advanced MRI methods such as diffusiontensor imaging and arterial spin labeled. Neuroimaging is fast becoming a key instrument in early detection and could prove essential for CTE quantification. This review explores a global approach to in vivo early detection.Limited data of in vivo CTE biomarkers with postmortem confirmation are available. While some data exist, they are limited by selection bias. It is unlikely that a single test will be sufficient to properly diagnosis and distinguish CTE from other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease or Frontotemporal Dementia. However, with a combination of fluid biomarkers, neuroimaging, and genetic testing, early detection may become possible.