A postmortem analysis of Stan Mikita's brain by Boston University's CTE Center shows the Chicago hockey great had stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Stage 4 is the most severe form of the degenerative brain disease usually associated with concussions.
CTE is known to cause memory loss, violent moods and other cognitive difficulties. It can only be diagnosed after death. Makita died in August of 2018 at the age of 78. Prior to his death, he had aslo been diagnosed with Lewy Body disease, another degenerative brain condition.
Mikita is the eighth former NHL player diagnosed with CTE at the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank. The list also includes Derek Boogaard, Bob Probert and Reggie Fleming, although Makita is the first Hall-of-Famer to be diagnosed with CTE.
"Stan Mikita was diagnosed with [two] neurodegenerative diseases that our research has shown are associated with a long career in contact sports such as ice hockey: CTE and Lewy Body Disease," said Dr. Ann McKee, director of the BU CTE Center, VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, and chief of neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System.
“We hope Stan Mikita's pledge and CTE diagnosis will inspire greater participation in research from the hockey community," said Chris Nowinski, Ph.D, co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, who helped facilitate Mikita's brain pledge. "Without greater participation from the hockey community, we have little hope for treating or preventing CTE within our lifetime."
Mikita had visited the research team in Boston and then decided to pledge his brain to give back to his fellow players, the game of hockey and support research.
Source: TSN.ca
