Campen, C Linda Mc van, Rowe, Peter C, Visser, Frans C · Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020 · DOI
This study tested whether a simple sitting test could detect blood flow problems in the brains of severely ill ME/CFS patients. Researchers found that 90% of severe ME/CFS patients had significant drops in brain blood flow when sitting upright—dropping by about 24.5%—while healthy people's brain blood flow barely changed. This sitting test was easier to tolerate than standard tilt tests and could be useful for diagnosing blood flow problems in the most severely affected patients.
This finding is clinically important because it provides a gentler, better-tolerated diagnostic test for orthostatic intolerance in severely ill ME/CFS patients who cannot complete standard tilt tests. The results validate that blood flow problems are a measurable, objective feature of ME/CFS and support the need for further investigation into vascular and neurological mechanisms underlying the disease.
This study does not prove that reduced brain blood flow causes ME/CFS symptoms, only that the two occur together. It cannot establish whether blood flow abnormalities are a primary cause, a consequence of other physiological changes, or part of a broader dysautonomic process. The cross-sectional design prevents any conclusions about whether blood flow changes develop over time or vary with disease course.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Campen, C Linda Mc van, Rowe, Peter C, & Visser, Frans C (2020). Reductions in Cerebral Blood Flow Can Be Provoked by Sitting in Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients.. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8040394
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-campen-2020-reductions-cerebral,
author = {Campen, C Linda Mc van and Rowe, Peter C and Visser, Frans C},
title = {Reductions in Cerebral Blood Flow Can Be Provoked by Sitting in Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients.},
journal = {Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.3390/healthcare8040394},
note = {PubMed: 33050553},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campen-2020-reductions-cerebral},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campen-2020-reductions-cerebral
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