dementia pugilistica

Introduction

Dementing disorder resulting from repetitive head trauma as occurs in boxers.

Epidemiology

• amateur boxers
• professional boxers

Pathology

• abnormalities in the septum pellucidum
  • enlargement of the cavum
  • fenestration of the leaves
• thinning of fornices & corpus callosum
• scarring & neuronal loss in the cerebellum
• degeneration of the substantia nigra
  • loss of neurons & pigment
• neurofibrillary tangles
  • numerous
  • found diffusely throughout the cerebral cortex & brainstem
  • distinct predilection for medial temporal grey matter
  • otherwise tangles followed Alzheimer-like distribution
• no or few senile plaques
  • characteristically absent when stained with silver or Congo red
  • diffuse deposits of amyloid A4 peptide are revealed by immunocytochemical methods

Differential diagnosis

• Alzheimer's disease or other dementia
• chronic traumatic encephalopathy (probably the same disorder)

More general terms

• tauopathy
• traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• dementia; Alzheimer's disease & related dementias (ADRD)

Additional terms

• chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)