Junior Seau: An Illustrative Case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and Update on Chronic Sports-Related Head Injury.
BACKGROUND
Few neurologic diseases have captured the nation's attention more completely than chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been discovered in the autopsies of professional athletes, most notably professional football players. The tragic case of Junior Seau, a Hall of Fame, National Football League linebacker, has been the most high-profile confirmed case of CTE. Here we describe Seau's case, which concludes an autopsy conducted at the National Institutes of Health that confirmed the diagnosis.


METHODS
Since 1990, Junior Seau had a highly distinguished 20-year career playing for the National Football League as a linebacker, from which he sustained multiple concussions. He committed suicide on May 2, 2012, at age 43, after which an autopsy confirmed a diagnosis of CTE. His clinical history was significant for a series of behavioral disturbances. Seau's history and neuropathologic findings were used to better understand the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and possible risk factors for CTE.


CONCLUSIONS
This high-profile case reflects an increasing awareness of CTE as a long-term consequence of multiple traumatic brain injuries. The previously unforeseen neurologic risks of American football have begun to cast doubt on the safety of the sport.
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. Stanford, California, USA.
Tej D
TD
Azad
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. Stanford, California, USA.
Amy
A
Li
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. Stanford, California, USA.
Arjun V
AV
Pendharkar
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. Stanford, California, USA.
Anand
A
Veeravagu
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. Stanford, California, USA. Electronic address: ggrant2@stanford.edu.
Gerald A
GA
Grant
D000328:Adult; D020208:Brain Injury, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history*; D005197:Famous Persons; D005538:Football / Q000266:history* / Q000293:injuries; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
American football; Chronic traumatic injury; Sports-related injury; Traumatic brain injury