Concomitant progressive supranuclear palsy and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a boxer

Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2014 Feb 21:2:24. doi: 10.1186/2051-5960-2-24.

Abstract

We report the case of a 75-year-old ex-professional boxer who developed diplopia and eye movement abnormalities in his 60's followed by memory impairment, low mood and recurrent falls. Examination shortly before death revealed hypomimia, dysarthria, vertical supranuclear gaze palsy and impaired postural reflexes. Pathological examination demonstrated 4-repeat tau neuronal and glial lesions, including tufted astrocytes, consistent with a diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy. In addition, neurofibrillary tangles composed of mixed 3-repeat and 4-repeat tau and astrocytic tangles in a distribution highly suggestive of chronic traumatic encephalopathy were observed together with limbic TDP-43 pathology. Possible mechanisms for the co-occurrence of these two tau pathologies are discussed.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Brain Injury, Chronic / complications*
  • Brain Injury, Chronic / genetics
  • Brain Injury, Chronic / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Leucine-Rich Repeat Serine-Threonine Protein Kinase-2
  • Male
  • Progranulins
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / genetics
  • Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / complications*
  • Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / genetics
  • Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / pathology*
  • tau Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • GRN protein, human
  • Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • MAPT protein, human
  • Progranulins
  • tau Proteins
  • LRRK2 protein, human
  • Leucine-Rich Repeat Serine-Threonine Protein Kinase-2
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases