Nodding syndrome and onchocerciasis-associated epilepsies: assessing structural brain images in a Ugandan cohort

Nodding syndrome (NS), a form of epileptic illness in children, has been associated with Onchocerca volvulus.
Although brain atrophies were common in children with NS and onchocerciasis-associated epilepsies, children with NS had greater ventricular volumes (indicating higher cortical atrophy, Pcorr=0.036), and severe NS disability as a result of increase gray matter atrophy and cerebellar volume (both Pcorr=0.009).
The authors concluded that structural brain changes, i.e., cerebral and cerebellar atrophies, are useful markers for predicting the severity of NS disability in children.