Severe CTE and TDP-43 pathology in a former professional soccer player with dementia: a clinicopathological case report and review of the literature

Acta Neuropathologica Communications

Case Report

Jeroen J. M. Hoozemans¹  Suzie Kamps²  Yolande A. L. Pijnenburg²  Rik Ossenkoppele³  Suzan van Amerongen⁴  Philip Scheltens⁵  Annemieke J. M. Rozemuller⁶  Kyra K. M. Kaijser⁶  Frederik Barkhof⁷  Charlotte E. Teunissen⁸  Everard G. B. Vijverberg⁹  Robert A. Stern^1,10 

[1] Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Clinical Memory Research Unit, Lund University, Lund, Sweden;Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Neurology, Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;EQT Life Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, London, UK;Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Neurochemistry Laboratory, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Amsterdam UMC, Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Neurology, Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;Departments of Neurosurgery, and Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;

关键词: Soccer;    Association football;    Repetitive head impacts;    Chronic traumatic encephalopathy;    Tauopathy;    Neurodegeneration;    Biomarkers;    Traumatic encephalopathy syndrome;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40478-023-01572-3

 received in 2023-03-08, accepted in 2023-04-20,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

In the last decades, numerous post-mortem case series have documented chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in former contact-sport athletes, though reports of CTE pathology in former soccer players are scarce. This study presents a clinicopathological case of a former professional soccer player with young-onset dementia. The patient experienced early onset progressive cognitive decline and developed dementia in his mid-50 s, after playing soccer for 12 years at a professional level. While the clinical picture mimicked Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid PET imaging did not provide evidence of elevated beta-amyloid plaque density. After he died in his mid-60 s, brain autopsy showed severe phosphorylated tau (p-tau) abnormalities fulfilling the neuropathological criteria for high-stage CTE, as well as astrocytic and oligodendroglial tau pathology in terms of tufted astrocytes, thorn-shaped astrocytes, and coiled bodies. Additionally, there were TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) positive cytoplasmic inclusions in the frontal lobe and hippocampus, and Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) positivity in the axons of the white matter. A systematic review of the literature revealed only 13 other soccer players with postmortem diagnosis of CTE. Our report illustrates the complex clinicopathological correlation of CTE and the need for disease-specific biomarkers.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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