Iversen, Per Ole, von Lueder, Thomas Gero, Kardel, Kristin Reimers et al. · Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020 · DOI
Researchers used heart ultrasounds to check if the hearts of people with ME/CFS were structurally different or working differently than healthy people's hearts. They found no significant differences in heart size or function between the 16 women with ME/CFS and 10 healthy women they studied. This suggests that ME/CFS exercise intolerance and lactate buildup may not be caused by problems with how the heart itself is structured or functioning.
Understanding whether ME/CFS involves cardiac dysfunction is crucial for explaining exercise intolerance and abnormal lactate accumulation—hallmark features of the disease. These findings help narrow the search for the underlying cause of ME/CFS symptoms by ruling out the heart as a primary source of dysfunction, potentially redirecting research focus toward metabolic and mitochondrial mechanisms.
This study does not prove that cardiac abnormalities never occur in ME/CFS, as it only examined a small group of 16 women and used single time-point measurements. It also does not establish what is actually causing the abnormal lactate accumulation observed in ME/CFS patients, only that structural or functional heart problems are unlikely to be the explanation. Additionally, findings in women may not generalize to men with ME/CFS.
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
Iversen, Per Ole, von Lueder, Thomas Gero, Kardel, Kristin Reimers, & Lien, Katarina (2020). Cardiac Dimensions and Function Are Not Altered among Females with the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8040406
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-iversen-2020-cardiac-dimensions,
author = {Iversen, Per Ole and von Lueder, Thomas Gero and Kardel, Kristin Reimers and Lien, Katarina},
title = {Cardiac Dimensions and Function Are Not Altered among Females with the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.3390/healthcare8040406},
note = {PubMed: 33081294},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/iversen-2020-cardiac-dimensions},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/iversen-2020-cardiac-dimensions
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