Rationale and design of the "NEurodegeneration: Traumatic brain injury as Origin of the Neuropathology (NEwTON)" study: a prospective cohort study of individuals at risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

BACKGROUND: Repetitive head injury in contact sports is associated with cognitive, neurobehavioral, and motor impairments and linked to a unique neurodegenerative disorder: chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). As the clinical presentation is variable, risk factors are heterogeneous, and diagnostic biomarkers are not yet established, the diagnostic process of CTE remains a challenge. The general objective of the NEwTON study is to establish a prospective cohort of individuals with high risk for CTE, to phenotype the study population, to identify potential fluid and neuroimaging biomarkers, and to measure clinical progression of the disease. The present paper explains the protocol and design of this case-finding study. METHODS: NEwTON is a prospective study that aims to recruit participants at risk for CTE, with features of the traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (exposed participants), and healthy unexposed control individuals. Subjects are invited to participate after diagnostic screening at our memory clinic or recruited by advertisement. Exposed participants receive a comprehensive baseline screening, including neurological examination, neuropsychological tests, questionnaires and brain MRI for anatomical imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI), and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Questionnaires include topics on life-time head injury, subjective cognitive change, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Optionally, blood and cerebrospinal fluid are obtained for storage in the NEwTON biobank. Patients are informed about our brain donation program in collaboration with the Netherlands Brain Brank. Follow-up takes place annually and includes neuropsychological assessment, questionnaires, and optional blood draw. Testing of control subjects is limited to baseline neuropsychological tests, MRI scan, and also noncompulsory blood draw. RESULTS: To date, 27 exposed participants have finished their baseline assessments. First baseline results are expected in 2023. CONCLUSIONS: The NEwTON study will assemble a unique cohort with prospective observational data of male and female individuals with high risk for CTE. This study is expected to be a primary explorative base and designed to share data with international CTE-related cohorts. Sub-studies may be added in the future with this cohort as backbone.

Postmortem Autopsy-Confirmation of Antemortem [F-18]FDDNP-PET Scans in a Football Player With Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Currently, only presumptive diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can be made in living patients. We present a modality that may be instrumental to the definitive diagnosis of CTE in living patients based on brain autopsy confirmation of [F-18]FDDNP-PET findings in an American football player with CTE. [F-18]FDDNP-PET imaging was performed 52 mo before the subject's death. Relative distribution volume parametric images and binding values were determined for cortical and subcortical regions of interest. Upon death, the brain was examined to identify the topographic distribution of neurodegenerative changes. Correlation between neuropathology and [F-18]FDDNP-PET binding patterns was performed using Spearman rank-order correlation. Mood, behavioral, motor, and cognitive changes were consistent with chronic traumatic myeloencephalopathy with a 22-yr lifetime risk exposure to American football. There were tau, amyloid, and TDP-43 neuropathological substrates in the brain with a differential topographically selective distribution. [F-18]FDDNP-PET binding levels correlated with brain tau deposition (rs = 0.59, P = .02), with highest relative distribution volumes in the parasagittal and paraventricular regions of the brain and the brain stem. No correlation with amyloid or TDP-43 deposition was observed. [F-18]FDDNP-PET signals may be consistent with neuropathological patterns of tau deposition in CTE, involving areas that receive the maximal shearing, angular-rotational acceleration-deceleration forces in American football players, consistent with distinctive and differential topographic vulnerability and selectivity of CTE beyond brain cortices, also involving midbrain and limbic areas. Future studies are warranted to determine whether differential and selective [F-18]FDDNP-PET may be useful in establishing a diagnosis of CTE in at-risk patients.

Thermoregulate, autoregulate and ventilate: brain-directed critical care for pediatric cardiac arrest.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cardiac arrest in childhood is associated with a high risk for mortality and poor long-term functional outcome. This review discusses the current evidence for neuroprotective therapies and goals for postarrest care in the context of the pathophysiology of hypoxic-ischemic injury, modalities for neurologic prognostication in these children and potential future monitoring paradigms for maximizing cerebral perfusion in the postarrest period. RECENT FINDINGS: The recent publication of the in-hospital and out-of-hospital Therapeutic Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest trials demonstrated a lack of statistically significant benefit for the use of postarrest therapeutic hypothermia. As a result, targeted normothermic temperature management has become standard of care. Continuous electroencephalographic monitoring during the acute postarrest period provides useful additional data for neurologic prognostication, in addition to its value for detection of seizures. Ongoing research into noninvasive monitoring of cerebrovascular autoregulation has the potential to individualize blood pressure goals in the postarrest period, maximizing cerebral perfusion in these patients. SUMMARY: Therapeutic strategies after cardiac arrest seek to maximize cerebral perfusion while mitigating the effects of secondary brain injury and loss of autoregulation. Future research into new monitoring strategies and better long-term outcome measures may allow more precise targeting of therapies to these goals.

The value of 11C-methionine PET in the early differentiation between tumour recurrence and radionecrosis in patients treated for a high-grade glioma and indeterminate MRI. / Utilidad de la PET con 11C-metionina en la diferenciación precoz entre recurrencia tumoral y radionecrosis de pacientes tratados de glioma de alto grado con RM indeterminada.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the contribution of 11C-Methionine PET in the early differentiation between tumour recurrence and radionecrosis in patients treated for a high grade glioma. METHOD: The study included 30 patients with glioma (III/IV grade) treated with surgery/radiotherapy/chemotherapy (5-8 months) and with an indeterminate MRI. All patients underwent a 11C-Methione PET (within 15 days of MRI) and studies were visually analysed (intensity and morphology of uptake), quantified (SUV max/SUV mean background), and coregistered to MRI (3D-Flair). Patient management was decided by the neuro-oncology committee to clinical and imaging follow-up, second-line treatment, or surgery. RESULTS: There were 23 11C-Methionine PET studies visually positive. Morphology of uptake was focal in 15, diffuse in 4, and ring-shaped in 4. Three out of the focal uptake cases underwent resection (Histopathology +). Sixteen underwent second-line therapy (11 responded; 5 progressed). The 4 cases with ring-shaped uptake were followed-up, and progression was found in 2 (true-positive), and disease-free in 2 (follow-up of 6 and 7 months, respectively) (false-positive). Seven out of 11C-Methionine studies PET were visually negative, and all of them were disease-free (follow-up of 3-12 months). SUV lesion/background was 2.79±1.35 in tumour recurrence, and 1.53±0.39 in radionecrosis (P<.05). Taking into account a SUV lesion/background threshold of 2.35, the sensitivity and specificity values were 90.5% and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Visual analysis, quantitative and PET/MRI coregistration of 11C-Methionine PET showed their complementary role in patients with indeterminate MRI results, thus allowing early differentiation between tumour recurrence and radionecrosis, and helping in the individual therapy approach.

Methylmalonic and propionic acidemias: clinical management update.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Recent clinical studies and management guidelines for the treatment of the organic acidopathies methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) and propionic acidemia address the scope of interventions to maximize health and quality of life. Unfortunately, these disorders continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality due to acute and chronic systemic and end-organ injury. RECENT FINDINGS: Dietary management with medical foods has been a mainstay of therapy for decades, yet well controlled patients can manifest growth, development, cardiac, ophthalmological, renal, and neurological complications. Patients with organic acidopathies suffer metabolic brain injury that targets specific regions of the basal ganglia in a distinctive pattern, and these injuries may occur even with optimal management during metabolic stress. Liver transplantation has improved quality of life and metabolic stability, yet transplantation in this population does not entirely prevent brain injury or the development of optic neuropathy and cardiac disease. SUMMARY: Management guidelines should identify necessary screening for patients with methylmalonic acidemia and propionic acidemia, and improve anticipatory management of progressive end-organ disease. Liver transplantation improves overall metabolic control, but injury to nonregenerative tissues may not be mitigated. Continued use of medical foods in these patients requires prospective studies to demonstrate evidence of benefit in a controlled manner.

MEET BENNET OMALU, MD: THE PHYSICIAN LEADER WHOSE RESEARCH INSPIRED THE MOVIE CONCUSSION.

The pathologist who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy in professional football players didn't set out to attack America's favorite sport. He didn't even know much about the game.

Is Heading in Youth Soccer Dangerous Play?

BACKGROUND: Soccer is among the most popular youth sports with over 3 million youth players registered in the U.S. Soccer is unique in that players intentionally use their head to strike the ball, leading to concerns that heading could cause acute or chronic brain injury, especially in the immature brains of children. METHODS: Pub Med search without date restriction was conducted in November 2014 and August 2015 using the terms soccer and concussion, heading and concussion, and youth soccer and concussion. 310 articles were identified and reviewed for applicable content specifically relating to youth athletes, heading, and/or acute or chronic brain injury from soccer. RESULTS: Soccer is a low-risk sport for catastrophic head injury, but concussions are relatively common and heading often plays a role. At all levels of play, concussions are more likely to occur in the act of heading than with other facets of the game. While concussion from heading the ball without other contact to the head appears rare in adult players, some data suggests children are more susceptible to concussion from heading primarily in game situations. Contributing factors include biomechanical forces, less developed technique, and the immature brain's susceptibility to injury. CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence that heading in youth soccer causes any permanent brain injury and there is limited evidence that heading in youth soccer can cause concussion. A reasonable approach based on U.S. Youth Soccer recommendations is to teach heading after age 10 in controlled settings, and heading in games should be delayed until skill acquisition and physical maturity allow the youth player to head correctly with confidence.

Type and occurrence of serious complications in patients after mild traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major public health and socio-economic problem, and 70-90% of all TBIs are classified as mild. Mild TBIs and concussions are mostly considered to be non-serious conditions with symptoms subsiding within a few days or weeks. However in 10-15% of patients, the symptoms persist one year after concussion and mostly include headache, fatigue, irritability, and cognitive problems (e.g. memory, concentration). These persisting symptoms negatively influence patient daily activities as postconcussion syndrome (PCS). Second-impact syndrome (SIS) is a very rare but usually fatal condition and occurs when repeated brain injuries lead to a catastrophic diffuse brain swelling. There is no scientific evidence on the incidence and risk of SIS. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in patients with a history of repetitive brain trauma. CTE presents with behavioural, cognitive, and motor symptoms. The literature to date lacks prospective epidemiological studies of the incidence of CTE. In recent medical literature, there is a description of 110 athletes with postmortem diagnosis of CTE (Tab. 1, Ref. 37).

Endoplasmic reticulum stress implicated in chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by neurofibrillary tau tangles following repetitive neurotrauma. The underlying mechanism linking traumatic brain injury to chronic traumatic encephalopathy has not been elucidated. The authors investigate the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress as a link between acute neurotrauma and chronic neurodegeneration. METHODS: The authors used pharmacological, biochemical, and behavioral tools to assess the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in linking acute repetitive traumatic brain injury to the development of chronic neurodegeneration. Data from the authors' clinically relevant and validated rodent blast model were compared with those obtained from postmortem human chronic traumatic encephalopathy specimens from a National Football League player and World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler. RESULTS: The results demonstrated strong correlation of endoplasmic reticulum stress activation with subsequent tau hyperphosphorylation. Various endoplasmic reticulum stress markers were increased in human chronic traumatic encephalopathy specimens, and the endoplasmic reticulum stress response was associated with an increase in the tau kinase, glycogen synthase kinase-3ß. Docosahexaenoic acid, an endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibitor, improved cognitive performance in the rat model 3 weeks after repetitive blast exposure. The data showed that docosahexaenoic acid administration substantially reduced tau hyperphosphorylation (t = 4.111, p < 0.05), improved cognition (t = 6.532, p < 0.001), and inhibited C/EBP homology protein activation (t = 5.631, p < 0.01). Additionally the data showed, for the first time, that endoplasmic reticulum stress is involved in the pathophysiology of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Docosahexaenoic acid therefore warrants further investigation as a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Junior Seau: An Illustrative Case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and Update on Chronic Sports-Related Head Injury.

BACKGROUND: Few neurologic diseases have captured the nation's attention more completely than chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been discovered in the autopsies of professional athletes, most notably professional football players. The tragic case of Junior Seau, a Hall of Fame, National Football League linebacker, has been the most high-profile confirmed case of CTE. Here we describe Seau's case, which concludes an autopsy conducted at the National Institutes of Health that confirmed the diagnosis. CASE DESCRIPTION: Since 1990, Junior Seau had a highly distinguished 20-year career playing for the National Football League as a linebacker, from which he sustained multiple concussions. He committed suicide on May 2, 2012, at age 43, after which an autopsy confirmed a diagnosis of CTE. His clinical history was significant for a series of behavioral disturbances. Seau's history and neuropathologic findings were used to better understand the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and possible risk factors for CTE. CONCLUSIONS: This high-profile case reflects an increasing awareness of CTE as a long-term consequence of multiple traumatic brain injuries. The previously unforeseen neurologic risks of American football have begun to cast doubt on the safety of the sport.

Polypathology and dementia after brain trauma: Does brain injury trigger distinct neurodegenerative diseases, or should they be classified together as traumatic encephalopathy?

Neuropathological studies of human traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases have described amyloid plaques acutely after a single severe TBI, and tau pathology after repeat mild TBI (mTBI). This has helped drive the hypothesis that a single moderate to severe TBI increases the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), while repeat mTBI increases the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In this review we critically assess this position-examining epidemiological and case control human studies, neuropathological evidence, and preclinical data. Epidemiological studies emphasize that TBI is associated with the increased risk of developing multiple types of dementia, not just AD-type dementia, and that TBI can also trigger other neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease. Further, human post-mortem studies on both single TBI and repeat mTBI can show combinations of amyloid, tau, TDP-43, and Lewy body pathology indicating that the neuropathology of TBI is best described as a 'polypathology'. Preclinical studies confirm that multiple proteins associated with the development of neurodegenerative disease accumulate in the brain after TBI. The chronic sequelae of both single TBI and repeat mTBI share common neuropathological features and clinical symptoms of classically defined neurodegenerative disorders. However, while the spectrum of chronic cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders that occur following repeat mTBI is viewed as the symptoms of CTE, the spectrum of chronic cognitive and neurobehavioral symptoms that occur after a single TBI is considered to represent distinct neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. These data support the suggestion that the multiple manifestations of TBI-induced neurodegenerative disorders be classified together as traumatic encephalopathy or trauma-induced neurodegeneration, regardless of the nature or frequency of the precipitating TBI.

Repetitive head trauma, chronic traumatic encephalopathy and tau: Challenges in translating from mice to men.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurological and psychiatric condition marked by preferential perivascular foci of neurofibrillary and glial tangles (composed of hyperphosphorylated-tau proteins) in the depths of the sulci. Recent retrospective case series published over the last decade on athletes and military personnel have added considerably to our clinical and histopathological knowledge of CTE. This has marked a vital turning point in the traumatic brain injury (TBI) field, raising public awareness of the potential long-term effects of mild and moderate repetitive TBI, which has been recognized as one of the major risk factors associated with CTE. Although these human studies have been informative, their retrospective design carries certain inherent limitations that should be cautiously interpreted. In particular, the current overriding issue in the CTE literature remains confusing in regard to appropriate definitions of terminology, variability in individual pathologies and the potential case selection bias in autopsy based studies. There are currently no epidemiological or prospective studies on CTE. Controlled preclinical studies in animals therefore provide an alternative means for specifically interrogating aspects of CTE pathogenesis. In this article, we review the current literature and discuss difficulties and challenges of developing in-vivo TBI experimental paradigms to explore the link between repetitive head trauma and tau-dependent changes. We provide our current opinion list of recommended features to consider for successfully modeling CTE in animals to better understand the pathobiology and develop therapeutics and diagnostics, and critical factors, which might influence outcome. We finally discuss the possible directions of future experimental research in the repetitive TBI/CTE field.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy pathology in a neurodegenerative disorders brain bank.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder linked to repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI) and characterized by deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau at the depths of sulci. We sought to determine the presence of CTE pathology in a brain bank for neurodegenerative disorders for individuals with and without a history of contact sports participation. Available medical records of 1721 men were reviewed for evidence of past history of injury or participation in contact sports. Subsequently, cerebral cortical samples were processed for tau immunohistochemistry in cases with a documented history of sports exposure as well as age- and disease-matched men and women without such exposure. For cases with available frozen tissue, genetic analysis was performed for variants in APOE, MAPT, and TMEM106B. Immunohistochemistry revealed 21 of 66 former athletes had cortical tau pathology consistent with CTE. CTE pathology was not detected in 198 individuals without exposure to contact sports, including 33 individuals with documented single-incident TBI sustained from falls, motor vehicle accidents, domestic violence, or assaults. Among those exposed to contact sports, those with CTE pathology did not differ from those without CTE pathology with respect to noted clinicopathologic features. There were no significant differences in genetic variants for those with CTE pathology, but we observed a slight increase in MAPT H1 haplotype, and there tended to be fewer homozygous carriers of the protective TMEM106B rs3173615 minor allele in those with sports exposure and CTE pathology compared to those without CTE pathology. In conclusion, this study has identified a small, yet significant, subset of individuals with neurodegenerative disorders and concomitant CTE pathology. CTE pathology was only detected in individuals with documented participation in contact sports. Exposure to contact sports was the greatest risk factor for CTE pathology. Future studies addressing clinical correlates of CTE pathology are needed.

Assessing clinicopathological correlation in chronic traumatic encephalopathy: rationale and methods for the UNITE study.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegeneration associated with repetitive head impacts. Understanding Neurologic Injury and Traumatic Encephalopathy (UNITE) is a U01 project recently funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. The goal of the UNITE project is to examine the neuropathology and clinical presentation of brain donors designated as "at risk" for the development of CTE based on prior athletic or military exposure. Here, we present the rationale and methodology for UNITE. METHODS: Over the course of 4 years, we will analyze the brains and spinal cords of 300 deceased subjects who had a history of repetitive head impacts sustained during participation in contact sports at the professional or collegiate level or during military service. Clinical data are collected through medical record review and retrospective structured and unstructured family interviews conducted by a behavioral neurologist or neuropsychologist. Blinded to the clinical data, a neuropathologist conducts a comprehensive assessment for neurodegenerative disease, including CTE, using published criteria. At a clinicopathological conference, a panel of physicians and neuropsychologists, blinded to the neuropathological data, reaches a clinical consensus diagnosis using published criteria, including proposed clinical research criteria for CTE. RESULTS: We will investigate the validity of these clinical criteria and sources of error by using recently validated neuropathological criteria as a gold standard for CTE diagnosis. We also will use statistical modeling to identify diagnostic features that best predict CTE pathology. CONCLUSIONS: The UNITE study is a novel and methodologically rigorous means of assessing clinicopathological correlation in CTE. Our findings will be critical for developing future iterations of CTE clinical diagnostic criteria.