Table 2.

Case definition characteristics and criteria for NS,⁹,¹⁰ applied to the presented case

Case definition criteria (Kampala, 2012)		Present case report (western Uganda, 1994)
Suspected case: reported head nodding in a previously healthy person (repetitive involuntary drops of the head toward the chest on ≥ 2 occasions)		+
Probable case: suspected case with at least 2 major and 1 minor criteria
Major criteria	Age 3–18 years at onset of head nodding	+
	Nodding frequency 5–20 times/min	[+]
Minor criteria	Other neurologic abnormalities	+
	Clustering in space and time with similar cases	+
	Triggering by eating or cold weather	[+]
	Delayed sexual or physical development	+
	Psychiatric manifestations	n.r.
Confirmed case: probable case with documented head nodding episodes
	Observed and recorded by a trained health-care worker	n.r.
	Videotaped head nodding episode	n.r.
	Video/EEG/EMG documenting head nodding as atonic seizure	n.r.

+ = criterion recorded as present; [+] = criterion likely to be present although not explicitly recorded (see discussion for details); EEG = electroencephalogram; EMG = electromyogram; n.r. = not recorded; NS = nodding syndrome.