CTE – Identify in the Living?
PM&R News • November 2017
The ability to finally identify chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a living person now seems to be a possibility on the horizon. New technology may help to identify CTE, which was only previously able to be diagnosed after death.
Dr. Bennet Omalu led the team of researchers who developed a new modality for identifying CTE in ex-NFL player Fred McNeil. Fifty-two months prior to his death, Dr. Omalu performed an in vivo [F-18] FDDNP-PET scan assessing for patterns of tau and amyloid proteins that are seen with CTE. At autopsy, the [F-18] FDDNP-PET scan findings correlated with neuropathological CTE – leading to the first case of CTE diagnosed before death.
This is showing us that FDDNP is doing what we believe it should be doing, so this is a very major milestone.
Lead author, Bennet Omalu, MD, Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis
CTE has recently been coined the “concussion crisis.” According to the Boston University CTE Center, repetitive blows to the head from concussive or subconcussive head injuries can promote CTE development. Over the past few years, rules have been changed in sport in order to reduce the frequency of head trauma.
Next Steps
Dr. Omalu and his team are seeking funding for a projected $5 million phase 3 clinical trial to further test the FDDNP technology, hoping to replicate the results of McNeil. The trial will take an estimated 2-3 years to continue. If results are reproduced, a commercial test could be available as soon as 5 years. As research in this area is young, more definitive, unbiased evidence will be needed before this test would be mainstream.
Review Question
What technology may help identify CTE in living patients?Answer
An [F-18] FDDNP-PET scan.
