Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dementia Pugilistica and Cavum Septi Pellucidi: Born to Box?

  • Leading Article
  • Published:
Sports Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Described nearly 70 years ago as the ‘punch drunk’ syndrome, dementia pugilistica has recently received increasing attention in both the medical and lay press. The association between the finding of cavum septi pellucidi and dementia in old boxers was first described by Ferguson and Mawdsley in 1965. Since then it has commonly been listed as one of the features of this condition. We review the significance and the epidemiology of cavum septi pellucidi and present an alternative explanation for the association between this developmental anomaly of the brain and dementia pugilistica.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Martland HS. Punch drunk. JAMA 1928; 91: 1103–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. La Cava G. Boxer’s encephalopathy. J Sports Med 1963; 3: 87–92

    Google Scholar 

  3. Guterman A, Smith RW. Neurological sequelae of boxing. Sports Med 1987; 4: 194–210

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ferguson FR, Mawdsley C. Neurological disease in boxers. Lancet 1963; II: 1799–1801

    Google Scholar 

  5. Corsellis JAN, Bruton CJ, Freeman-Brown D. The aftermath of boxing. Psychol Med 1973; 3: 270–303

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lampert PW, Hardman JH. Morphological changes in brains of boxers. JAMA 1984; 251: 2676–9

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Roberts GW, Allsop D, Bruton C. The occult aftermath of box ing. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1990; 53: 373–8

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Brandenburg W, Hallervorden J. Dementia pugilistica mit anatomischem Befund. Virchows Arch Pathol Anat Physiol Klin Med 1954; 325: 680–709

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Casson IR, Siegel O, Sham R, et al. Brain damage in modern boxers. JAMA 1984; 251: 2663–7

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Miller ME, Kido D, Horner F. Cavum vergae: association with neurologic abnormality and diagnosis by magnetic resonance imaging. Arch Neurol 1986; 43: 821–3

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Bodensteiner JB, Schaefer GB. The wide cavum septum pellucidum: a marker of disturbed development. Pediatr Neurol 1990; 6: 391–4

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Mott SH, Bodensteiner JB, Allan WC. The cavum septum pellucidum in term and preterm newborn infants. J Child Neurol 1992; 7: 35–8

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Breeding LM, Bodensteiner JB, Cowan L, et al. The cavum septum pellucidum: an MRI study of prevalence and clinical associations in a pediatric population. J Neuroimaging 1991; 1: 115–8

    Google Scholar 

  14. Schaefer GB, Bodensteiner JB, Buehler BA, et al. The neuroimaging features of Soto’s syndrome. Am J Med Genet 1997; 68: 462–5

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Shaw CM, Alvord EC. Cava septi pellucidi et vergae: their normal and pathological states. Brain 1969; 92: 213–24

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Larroche JC, Baudley J. Cavum septi lucidi, cavum vergae, cavum veli interpositi: Cavitiés de la ligne médiane. Biol Neonat 1961; 3: 193–236

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Schunk H. Congenital dilatations of the septum pellucidum. Radiology 1963; 81: 610–8

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Finke J, Koch G. Das cavi septi pellucidi: Vorkommen und aussagewert: bericht über 128 Falle. Deutsch Z Nervenheilkd 1968; 193: 154–7

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Thieffry S, Lefèbvre J, Lepintre MJ, et al. Contribution à l’étude radiologique des malformations du plan sagittal interhémisphérique à propos de 45 observations. Acta Radiol 1958; 50: 242–52

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bogdanoff B, Natter HM. Incidence of cavum septum pellucidum in adults: a sign of boxer’s encephalopathy. Neurology 1989; 39: 991–2

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Nakanno S, Hojo H, Kataoka K, et al. Age related incidence of cavum septum pellucidum and cavum vergae on CT scans of pediatric patients. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1981; 5: 348–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Macpherson P, Teasdale E. CT demonstration of a 5th ventricle — a finding to KO boxers? Neuroradiology 1988; 30: 506–10

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Jordan BD, Zimmerman RD. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging comparisons in boxers. JAMA 1990; 263: 1670–4

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Haglund Y, Bergstrand G. Does Swedish amateur boxing lead to chromic brain damage? 2: a retrospective study with CT and MRI. Acta Neurol Scand 1990; 82: 297–302

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Lowman RM, Shapiro R, Collins LC. The significance of the widened septum pellucidum. AJR Am J Roent 1948; 59: 177–96

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Pendergrass EP, Hodes PJ. Dilatations of the cavum septi pellucidi and cavum vergae. Ann Surg 1935; 101: 269–95

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Dyke CG, Davidoff LM. Congenital absence of the septum pellucidum; its diagnosis by encephalography. Am J Roentgenol Radium Ther 1935; 34: 573–8

    Google Scholar 

  28. Haseman CA, Kelch RP, Hopwood NJ, et al. Sexual precocity in association with septo-optic dysplasia and hypothalamic hypopituitarism. J Pediatr 1978; 92: 748–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Degreef G, Bogerts B, Falkai P, et al. Increased prevalence of the cavum septum pellucidum in magnetic resonance scans and post-mortem brains of schizophrenic patients. Psychiatry Res 1992; 45: 1–13

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Robertson MM, Trimble MR, Lees AJ. Self-injurious behaviour and the Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: a clinical study and review of the literature. Psychol Med 1989; 19: 611–25

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurology and Paediatrics, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

    John B. Bodensteiner

  2. Departments of Paediatrics and Medical Genetics, Meyer Rehabilitation Institute, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

    G. Bradley Schaefer

Authors
  1. John B. Bodensteiner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. Bradley Schaefer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John B. Bodensteiner.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bodensteiner, J.B., Schaefer, G.B. Dementia Pugilistica and Cavum Septi Pellucidi: Born to Box?. Sports Med 24, 361–365 (1997). https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-199724060-00002

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-199724060-00002

Keywords

Search

Navigation