MONDAY, July 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Among active and retired professional fighters, a new diagnosis of traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) could predict who may experience cognitive decline, according to a study published online June 28 in Neurology.

Brook D. Conway Kleven, P.T., Ph.D., from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and colleagues examined whether there was an association between a clinical diagnosis of TES and subsequent temporal decline in cognitive or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumetric measures in a secondary analysis of the Professional Athletes Brain Health Study, including active and retired professional fighters older than 34 years of age. Data were included for 130 fighters; 52 (40 percent) were adjudicated as TES-positive.

The researchers found that TES-positive fighters were older and had significantly lower education. There were significant interactions and between-group total mean differences observed in all MRI volumetric measurements among TES-positive versus TES-negative fighters. A significantly greater increase in the rate of volumetric change was seen for lateral and inferior lateral ventricles, while a decrease was seen for the hippocampus, subcortical gray matter, total gray matter, and posterior corpus callosum. Likewise, in the TES-positive group, the rate of cognitive decline was significantly greater for reaction time and other standardized cognitive scores.

“Our results suggest that the criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome can identify people who are more likely to have worsening brain shrinkage and cognitive issues over time, while those who do not meet the criteria for the syndrome remain relatively stable,” Conway Kleven said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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