NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES, BUT NOT ALZHEIMER-TYPE PATHOLOGY, IN A YOUNGBOXER

The chronic neurological sequelae of boxing are well described, but th ere have been few neuropathological studies of boxers dying early in t heir career. We report the case of a 23-year-old boxer, whose brain sh owed neurofibrillary tangles in all neocortical areas, but remarkable sparing of medial temporal lobe structures, These tangles, assumed to be the result of repetitive head injury, were the only detectable abno rmality: none of the other changes previously described in the brains of retired boxers were seen. The distribution and features of the neur opathological findings in this case suggest that the mechanism of tang le formation induced by repetitive head trauma may be different from t hat in Alzheimer's disease.