Scientists make a big breakthrough in brain disease diagnoses for living athletes following scans of former England captain Dave Watson's brain - which shows he is suffering from neurodegenerative CTE
- Scientists moved a significant step closer to diagnosing CTE in living athletes
- Scans of Dave Watson's brain showed he's suffering from sports-related disease
- Currently CTE - neurodegenerative disease - can only be confirmed after death
Scientists in Boston have moved a significant step closer to diagnosing CTE in living athletes rather than only the dead, with scans of Dave Watson's brain indicating the former England captain is suffering from the sports-related disease.
Scans of Dave Watson's brain indicate the former England captain is suffering from the sports-related disease CTE
Currently CTE – the neurodegenerative disease found in those with a history of head trauma, including footballers, American footballers, rugby players and boxers – can only be confirmed after death via brain autopsy.
Yet a Boston University study on brain imaging has provided the best evidence to date that MRI scans can detect evidence of CTE in those still alive. It is significant news as such a breakthrough would allow scientists to explore ways to slow down the decline in ex-professional players such as Watson with treatment.
The 75-year-old with 65 England caps has been diagnosed with dementia. His wife and caregiver, Penny, described diagnosing CTE in the living as 'a total game-changer'.
'It's encouraging to see this progress, along with the recent announcement about the joint action plan on brain health in English football,' she said, referring to the announcement of a multimillion-pound project launched by the FA, Premier League, EFL and PFA to tackle the dementia crisis.
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The study found its participants confirmed with CTE had shrinkage in certain areas of the brain which the healthy controls used in comparison did not.
Those with CTE were also nearly seven times more likely to have an abnormality called a cavum septum pellucidum (CSP). The Watson family have been told by more than one specialist that Dave had one of the largest tears in his septum pellucidum they had ever seen.
'CSP is seen commonly in people with CTE and seeing it in Dave's brain raises the likelihood that he has CTE,' Penny added.
'My family and I strongly believe this is evidence that the trauma to his brain that Dave sustained throughout his professional footballing life was significant enough to cause neurodegenerative disease.'
Scientists say they will now work to learn whether the patterns seen on MRIs match the pathology of CTE.
