{
  "abstract": "Athletes exposed to repetitive head impacts (RHI) may seek clinical evaluation because of concerns about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neuropathologically defined disease that cannot currently be diagnosed during life. As public awareness of CTE has expanded, clinicians face challenges communicating diagnostic uncertainty, interpreting non-specific symptoms, and addressing concerns about future neurological health. This Current Opinion examines the widening gap between public expectations and scientific capability and considers its implications for athlete-centered care. We discuss how clinicians can acknowledge uncertainty without dismissing patients' concerns, identify potentially treatable contributors to symptoms without prematurely attributing them to neurodegenerative disease, and use shared decision-making to guide individualized evaluation and management. We also consider how concerns about CTE may influence decisions about continued participation and return-to-sport among current athletes. Meeting these challenges requires coordinated interdisciplinary care, evidence-based communication, and clinical approaches that prioritize meaningful intervention even when diagnostic certainty remains unavailable.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Neurology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.",
    "NYU Langone Concussion Center, NYU Langone Health, 240 East 38th Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA.",
    "Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.",
    "Brain Injury Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.",
    "Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.",
    "Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.",
    "Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.",
    "NYU Langone Concussion Center, NYU Langone Health, 240 East 38th Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA. hector.arciniega@nyulangone.org.",
    "Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. hector.arciniega@nyulangone.org.",
    "Institute for Translational Neuroscience, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. hector.arciniega@nyulangone.org."
  ],
  "article_type": "brief report",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Shae Datta"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Brian S Im"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Geraldine Pagnotta"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mara Sproul"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Rebecca D Folkerth"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Enna Selmanovic"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7,
        8,
        9
      ],
      "name": "Hector Arciniega",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5565-9633"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dkrsrqce65vaw.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1186/s40798-026-01138-2",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13722644",
  "id": "dkrsrqce65vaw",
  "issns": [
    "2199-1170",
    "2198-9761"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42963510",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Current Opinion"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2713|Traumatic Brain Injury Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224931641",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13722644?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13722644",
  "pmid": "42963510",
  "published": "2026-10-30",
  "publisher": "Springer",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dkrsrqce65vaw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T03:21:21Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42963510",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42963510"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:21:25Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13722644",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-026-01138-2"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2713|Traumatic Brain Injury Research",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "When Athletes Ask About Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.",
  "title_text": "When Athletes Ask About Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T12:21:25Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dkrsrqce65vaw",
  "venue": "Sports medicine - open",
  "versions": []
}