Remember the null hypothesis?

Autor: Christopher Randolph
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
ISSN: 1468-330X
Popis: OBJECTIVE: To determine whether subjects with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and dementia have distinct clinical features compared to subjects with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer’s disease (AD). METHODS: Among 339 subjects assessed for CTE in the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center dataset, 6 subjects with CTE and 25 subjects with AD neuropathologic change matched for age (±5 years) and sex were identified. All subjects had a clinical diagnosis of dementia. Neurological exam, neuropsychological testing, and emotional/behavioral data were compared between CTE and AD subjects at the time of dementia diagnosis and last clinical visit near death. RESULTS: A history of TBI with LOC was reported in 1 CTE and 1 AD subject; information about injuries without LOC or multiple injuries was unavailable. CTE and AD subjects did not differ significantly at time of diagnosis or last visit on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale – Motor Exam, global measures of cognitive functioning (Mini-Mental State Exam and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale), emotional/behavior symptoms as assessed with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory questionnaire, or across neuropsychological measures. All CTE participants had co-occurring neuropathologic processes, including AD and most had TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) neuropathology. CONCLUSIONS: CTE pathology was rare in a large multicenter national dataset, and when present, was accompanied by AD and TDP-43 pathologies. CTE was not associated with a different clinical presentation from AD nor with greater cognitive impairment or neurobehavioral symptoms. These findings suggest that CTE may not have a distinct clinical profile when other neuropathologic processes are co-existent with CTE pathology.
Databáze: OpenAIRE