The utility of clinical criteria in patients with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
NeuroRehabilitation
Laffey, M., Darby, A. J., Cline, M. G., Teng, E., Mendez, M. F.
2018
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by Alzheimer-like changes in the brain. CTE has been defined through neuropathological findings among deceased athletes and others exposed to repetitive TBI, but to date there are no definitive clinical criteria for CTE.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of currently proposed clinical criteria for CTE and suggest improvements.METHODS: We describe two well-characterized patients referred for evaluation of CTE and apply the four major proposed criteria for CTE. These criteria were further assessed in a cohort of patients referred to a neurobehavior clinic with or without a history of TBI.RESULTS: Without a CTE biomarker, the current criteria were of limited utility when applied to the two patient and the Neurobehavior cohort. Six items were extracted as potentially improving the clinical diagnosis of CTE: length of exposure to head impacts, a progressive course, specific psychiatric symptoms, frontal-executive dysfunction, parkinsonism and tremors, and targeted findings on neuroimaging.CONCLUSIONS: The prevention and neurorehabilitation of CTE depends on clinical diagnosis, but, without a biomarker, the clinical diagnosis of CTE remains difficult. This report suggests that clinical criteria for CTE may be greatly improved with emphasis on several critical historical and clinical correlates of CTE.
View details for PubMedID 30412511
Abstract
To compare the rates of depression in Alzheimer Disease (AD) determined using National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) provisional criteria for depression in AD (NIMH-dAD) to those determined using other established depression assessment tools.Descriptive longitudinal cohort study.The Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers of California.A cohort of 101 patients meeting NINDS-ADRDA criteria for possible/probable AD, intentionally selected to increase the frequency of depression at baseline.Depression was diagnosed at baseline and after 3 months using NIMH-dAD criteria and the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) Axis I Disorders. Depressive symptoms also were assessed with the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire.The baseline frequency of depression using NIMH-dAD criteria (44%) was higher than that obtained using DSM-IV criteria for major depression (14%; Z = -5.50, df = 101, p <0.001) and major or minor depression (36%; Z = -2.86, df = 101, p = 0.021) or using established cut-offs for the CSDD (30%; Z = -2.86, df = 101, p = 0.004) or GDS (33%; Z = -2.04, df = 101, p = 0.041). The NIMH-dAD criteria correctly identified all patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depression, and correlated well with DSM-IV criteria for major or minor depression (kappa = 0.753, p <0.001), exhibiting 94% sensitivity and 85% specificity. The higher rates of depression found with NIMH-dAD criteria derived primarily from its less stringent requirements for the frequency and duration of symptoms. Remission rates at 3 months were similar across instruments.The NIMH-dAD criteria identify a greater proportion of AD patients as depressed than several other established tools.
View details for Web of Science ID 000256307100006
View details for PubMedID 18515691
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2989660
