• Gary S Solomon and Scott L Zuckerman.
• Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center .
• Brain Inj. 2015 Jan 1;29(2):164-70.

Primary ObjectiveThe purposes of this paper are to review: (1) the history of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in sports, (2) the similarities and differences between historic and current definitions of CTE, (3) recent epidemiology and cohort studies of CTE and (4) controversies regarding the current CTE positions.Research DesignNot applicable.Methods And ProceduresSelective review of published articles relevant to CTE.Main Outcome And ResultsThe current definitions of CTE have evolved from its original definition and now rely heavily on the post-mortem detection of hyperphosphorylated tau for diagnosis. As of 2013, there is a blended cohort of 110 professional athletes diagnosed with CTE. It is being assumed that concussions and/or sub-concussive impacts in contact sports are the sole cause of CTE.ConclusionsThere are multiple causes of abnormal tau protein deposition in the human brain and the pathogenesis of CTE may not be related solely to concussion and/or sub-concussive injury. In all likelihood, the causes of CTE are a multivariate, as opposed to a univariate, phenomenon.

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