Brain Injury

Neurodegenerative Disease (e.g. MS, Parkinson's disease)

Athlete Development & Sports Rehabilitation

Symposium

(599025) CHAUTAUQUA: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy 2019: Current Understanding and Knowledge Gaps

Moderator(s)

• 

  Douglas Katz, MD, FACRM

  Professor / Medical Director
  Boston University / Braintree Rehab
  Newton Centre, Massachusetts

Presenter(s)

• 

  Robert Stern, PhD

  Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Anatomy & Neurobiology
  Boston University School of Medicine
  Boston, Massachusetts

Panelist(s)

• 

  Ross Zafonte, DO, FACRM

  Senior Vice President/ Professor and Chair
  Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital/ harvard
  Boston, Massachusetts
• 

  Kristen Dams-O'Connor, PhD

  Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and Neurology; Director of Brain Injury Research Center
  Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  New York, New York

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease diagnosed neuropathologically in individuals with a history of exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI). CTE has received increased attention due to a growing number of deceased former NFL players being diagnosed with the disease postmortem. CTE can only be diagnosed by neuropathological examination. However, provisional clinical research diagnostic criteria have been proposed and studies are underway to develop neuroimaging and fluid biomarkers diagnose CTE during life. This symposium will provide an overview of what is currently known about CTE, as well critical knowledge gaps and current and future directions in research.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the neuropathological features of CTE
• Explain the clinical features and subtypes of CTE
• Describe the possible fluid and neuroimaging biomarkers for CTE detection and diagnosis
• Understand the challenges and current limitations of making a clinical diagnosis of CTE
• Summarize current knowledge gaps regarding CTE, other possible long-term consequences of repetitive head impacts, and controversies in in the neuropathological and clinical diagnosis of CTE.