Campen, C Linda M C van, Rowe, Peter C, Visser, Frans C · Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021 · DOI
This study compared people with long-haul COVID-19 to people with ME/CFS to see if they experience similar problems with dizziness and blood flow when standing up. Researchers found that long-haul COVID patients had very similar symptoms to ME/CFS patients and showed even greater reductions in blood flow to the brain during tilt testing. The findings suggest that COVID-19 infection may trigger ME/CFS-like illness in some people.
This study provides direct evidence that long-haul COVID and ME/CFS share similar clinical features and hemodynamic abnormalities, suggesting SARS-CoV-2 may trigger ME/CFS development. Understanding these overlaps could help clinicians recognize and appropriately manage post-viral illnesses and may guide research into common pathological mechanisms.
This study does not prove that COVID-19 definitively causes ME/CFS, only that similarities exist between the two conditions. The small sample size and cross-sectional design limit generalizability. The study does not establish whether the cerebral blood flow reductions cause the symptoms or are secondary findings.
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 M C van, Rowe, Peter C, & Visser, Frans C (2021). Orthostatic Symptoms and Reductions in Cerebral Blood Flow in Long-Haul COVID-19 Patients: Similarities with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58010028
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-campen-2021-orthostatic-symptoms,
author = {Campen, C Linda M C van and Rowe, Peter C and Visser, Frans C},
title = {Orthostatic Symptoms and Reductions in Cerebral Blood Flow in Long-Haul COVID-19 Patients: Similarities with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.3390/medicina58010028},
note = {PubMed: 35056336},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campen-2021-orthostatic-symptoms},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campen-2021-orthostatic-symptoms
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