Scientists develop new imaging and blood tests to detect CTE in living patients

Two decades after the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), scientists are closing in on PET scans and blood tests to diagnose the disease in living patients. Currently, CTE can only be identified post-mortem, hindering treatment for hundreds of affected individuals, including many former NFL players. A recent BMJ study estimates at least a quarter of deceased NFL players from 2016 to 2021 had CTE, intensifying the urgent need for living diagnostic tools.

Post-Mortem Diagnoses in Football Players

• ▪Hundreds of people, primarily professional football players, have been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) post-mortem following repeated head impacts.
• ▪A study published last month in the BMJ found that at least a quarter of National Football League (NFL) players who died between 2016 and 2021 may have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Impact of Diagnostic Limitations

• ▪The inability to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living patients prevents researchers from identifying who is at risk and determining whether potential medical interventions are effective.
• ▪The current requirement of post-mortem autopsies to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) serves as a major obstacle to developing treatments for patients' memory loss, mood swings, and erratic behavior.

Developing Diagnostic Tools

• ▪Scientists are developing imaging techniques and blood tests to definitively identify chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living patients.
• ▪Two decades after chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was first discovered, scientists are closing in on diagnostic tools to identify the disease in living patients.

PET Scan Diagnostic Development

• ▪Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has proven to be a highly elusive target for positron emission tomography (PET) scan diagnostic development compared to other brain conditions.
• ▪Positron emission tomography (PET) scans, which are currently used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease and dementia, are the diagnostic tests farthest along in development for detecting chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Debatable claims

• ▪Youth contact sports should be restricted to prevent CTE risk in children
• ▪Sports leagues should mandate CTE screening for active players