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takyon writes:

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been diagnosed in a (formerly) living person and confirmed by an autopsy:

Researchers published, what they say is the first case of a living person identified with the degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

While unnamed in the study, lead author Dr. Bennet Omalu confirmed to CNN that the subject of the case was former NFL player, Fred McNeill -- who died in 2015.

Omalu is credited with first discovering CTE in professional football players. The only way to definitively diagnose the disease is with a brain exam after death.

The discovery was first made in 2012 using an experimental brain scan that can trace a signature protein of CTE called tau. The case study was published in the journal Neurosurgery [open, DOI: 10.1093/neuros/nyx536] [DX] this week.

[...] While the experimental technology has been used on at least a dozen other former NFL players including Pro Football Hall of Famer, Dallas Cowboy Tony Dorsett, McNeill is the first case to have the test results confirmed with an autopsy. Omalu helped develop and is invested in the diagnostic exam, which uses a radioactive "tracer" called FDDNP to bind to tau proteins in the brain. The tau proteins can then be seen on a PET scan of the brain.

Also at ESPN.

Note: Some skepticism may be warranted.

Previously: Researchers: Aaron Hernandez Had the Worst Case of CTE Ever Seen in an Athlete So Young

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