An autopsy showed a former NFL linebacker had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), confirming what a brain scan detected four years prior to his death.
The case, published online in Neurosurgery, is a breakthrough for researchers because before now CTE could only be diagnosed posthumously.
The player, who was later confirmed by CNN as Minnesota Vikings linebacker and former UCLA defensive end Fred McNeill, played in the NFL for 12 years and then began law school during his final year in the league.
McNeill was a first round draft pick by the Vikings in the 1974 NFL Draft.
The study detailed his behavioral and mood changes before the subject developed Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) about around the age of 61 and died at the age of 63.
"This is the first to have that brain specimen correlation. ... It was very nice to get that scientific confirmation of that scientific truth," said Julian Bailes, co-director of NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Ill., according to USA Today.
The NorthShore University HealthSystem has been working with scientists at UCLA to do PET scans on hundreds of brains that belonged to former football players and military members.
In the scan before the former player’s death, there were spots throughout the brain that appeared damaged, according to the study.
The autophy after his death confirmed the protein associated with CTE — tau— was found in the same damaged spots from the initial scan before death.
“It’s only one case report, but that’s the way science begins,” Bailes said, according to USA Today. “There’s more to understanding, but this is a nice demonstration of the correlation of a living scan and an autopsy of the brain.”
The release of the study follows a study released in July by Dr. Ann McKee and Boston University researches, alongside the VA Boston Healthcare System, that found CTE in the brains of 99 percent of former NFL players. The brains had been donated by their families after their deaths.
In the 202 brains of those who played football on all levels, McKee’s study from July found CTE in 177.
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