Nakalanga Syndrome: Clinical Characteristics, Potential Causes, and Its Relationship with Recently Described Nodding Syndrome.
Nakalanga syndrome is a condition that was described in Uganda and various other African countries decades ago. Its features include growth retardation, physical deformities, endocrine dysfunction, mental impairment, and epilepsy, amongst others. Its cause remains obscure. Nodding syndrome is a neurological disorder with some features in common with Nakalanga syndrome, which has been described mainly in Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania. It has been considered an encephalopathy affecting children who, besides head nodding attacks, can also present with stunted growth, delayed puberty, and mental impairment, amongst other symptoms. Despite active research over the last years on the pathogenesis of Nodding syndrome, to date, no convincing single cause of Nodding syndrome has been reported. In this review, by means of a thorough literature search, we compare features of both disorders. We conclude that Nakalanga and Nodding syndromes are closely related and may represent the same condition. Our findings may provide new directions in research on the cause underlying this neurological disorder.
Department of Neurology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Kathrin
K
Föger
Department of Neurology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Gina
G
Gora-Stahlberg
Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
James
J
Sejvar
Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda.
Emilio
E
Ovuga
Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Louise
L
Jilek-Aall
Department of Neurology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Erich
E
Schmutzhard
Pediatric Practice, Baden-Baden, Germany.
Christoph
C
Kaiser
Department of Neurology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.|Centre for Global Health, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Andrea S
AS
Winkler
D006801:Humans; D064128:Nodding Syndrome / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D013397:Sudan; D013636:Tanzania; D014454:Uganda