CTE BIOLOGICS
Repetitive Brain Trauma Can Last a Lifetime.
CTE Biologics is developing an investigational regenerative medicine program focused on the neurological consequences associated with repetitive head trauma.
THE PROBLEM
CTE Is Not a Football Problem.
It Is a Repetitive Brain Trauma Problem.
Repetitive head impacts are not confined to a single sport, profession, or population. Years of repeated head impacts may occur among athletes, military personnel, first responders, and others whose lives or occupations expose them to repetitive brain trauma.
THE EXPOSURE
Repetitive Head Impacts Can Accumulate Over Years.
A history of repetitive head impacts may begin long before symptoms appear. Exposure can accumulate through years of participation in contact and combat sports, military training or service, and other activities involving repeated impacts to the head.
Not every head impact produces a concussion, and exposure to repetitive head impacts does not by itself establish a diagnosis of CTE. Understanding the nature, frequency, duration, and timing of exposure is part of understanding the clinical history.
CONTACT SPORTS
COMBAT SPORTS
MILITARY
OTHER EXPOSURES
Football
Hockey
Rugby
Soccer
Boxing
Mixed Martial Arts
Martial Arts
Training
Combat
Blast Exposure
Occupational
Recreational
THE DISEASE
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Is a Neurodegenerative Disease.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with exposure to repetitive head impacts. The disease is defined by characteristic changes in brain tissue that currently can be definitively identified only through neuropathologic examination after death.
That creates a fundamental challenge for researchers studying CTE in living people: how can individuals with a relevant history and clinical presentation be identified for careful study without treating exposure or symptoms alone as proof of the disease?
CTE & TES
CTE and TES Are Related—but
They Are Not the Same Thing.
CTE describes the neuropathologic disease identified by characteristic changes in brain tissue. Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome (TES) is a clinical research framework developed to identify and study a pattern of cognitive and neurobehavioral features in living people with substantial exposure to repetitive head impacts. A diagnosis of TES does not establish that a person has CTE.
The distinction matters. Symptoms such as problems with memory, executive function, behavior, mood, or impulse control can have many causes. Evaluating a living person therefore requires more than a history of head impacts or the presence of symptoms—it requires careful assessment of the clinical course and consideration of other conditions that may better explain the presentation.
EXPOSURE
Substantial history of
repetitive head impacts
CLINICAL SYNDROME
TES provides a framework
for studying clinical features
in living individuals
DISEASE
CTE is definitively
identified through
neuropathologic
examination
UNDERSTANDING TES
A Clinical Framework for
Studying Living Individuals.
The 2021 NINDS consensus criteria for Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome (TES)
provide a research framework for evaluating living individuals with substantial exposure
to repetitive head impacts. The framework does not diagnose CTE. Instead, it brings
together exposure history, core clinical features, progression over time, and careful
consideration of other conditions that may better explain the presentation.
01 — SUBSTANTIAL EXPOSURE
A history of substantial repetitive head impacts
is required. Exposure may arise through contact
or collision sports, military service, or other
activities involving repeated impacts to the head.
02 — CORE CLINICAL FEATURES
The clinical presentation includes cognitive
impairment in episodic memory and/or
executive functioning, neurobehavioral
dysregulation, or both. Objective assessment
can help characterize cognitive impairment.
03 — PROGRESSIVE COURSE
The clinical features must represent a progressive
course—an important distinction from symptoms
that are transient, static, or better explained by
an isolated event.
04 — DIFFERENTIAL EVALUATION
The clinical features must not be fully accounted
for by another neurologic, psychiatric, medical,
or other condition. Repetitive head-impact exposure
alone does not determine the explanation for an
individual’s symptoms.