Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, including details on myalgic encephalomyelitis (me), diagnosis, gradual and sudden onset.

Shortened QT interval: a distinctive feature of the dysautonomia of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Naschitz J, Fields M, Isseroff H, Sharif D, Sabo E, Rosner I

Department of Internal Medicine A, Bnai Zion Medical Center and Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4940, Haifa 31048, Israel. naschitz@tx.technion.ac.il

PURPOSE: Because autonomic nervous functioning is frequently abnormal in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), we examined whether the corrected QT interval (QTc) in CFS differs from QTc in other populations. METHODS: The QTc was calculated at the end of 10 minutes of recumbence and the end of 10 minutes of head-up tilt. In a pilot study, groups of 15 subjects, CFS, and controls, matched for age and sex, were investigated. In a second phase of the study, the QTc was measured in larger groups of CFS (n = 30) and control patients (n = 96) not matched for demographic features. RESULTS: In the pilot study, the average supine QTc in CFS was 0.371 +/- 0.02 seconds and QTc on tilt, 0.385 +/- 0.02 seconds, significantly shorter than in controls (P = .0002 and .0003, respectively). Results of phase II confirmed this data. CONCLUSIONS: Relative short QTc intervals are features of the CFS-related dysautonomia. The significance of this finding is discussed.

Published 2 October 2006 in J Electrocardiol, 39(4): 389-94.
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