Komaroff, A L · JAMA · 1997
This case study describes one patient's experience with ME/CFS, detailing her symptoms, medical history, and clinical presentation. The study provides an in-depth look at how ME/CFS affects a real person and what doctors observed during evaluation. This type of detailed patient story can help both patients and doctors better understand the condition.
This case report from a leading ME/CFS researcher in a major medical journal helped establish ME/CFS as a legitimate clinical entity worthy of attention from mainstream medicine. Detailed case documentation by respected clinicians has been crucial in gaining recognition that ME/CFS is a real biological condition rather than purely psychological.
A single case report cannot establish causation, typical disease features, or prevalence of symptoms across the ME/CFS population. The findings from one patient cannot be generalized to all ME/CFS patients, who experience significant heterogeneity in symptoms and severity. This study type does not provide comparison groups needed to determine which features are unique to ME/CFS versus other conditions.
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
Komaroff, A L (1997). A 56-year-old woman with chronic fatigue syndrome.. JAMA. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9326479/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-komaroff-1997-year-old,
author = {Komaroff, A L},
title = {A 56-year-old woman with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {JAMA},
year = {1997},
note = {PubMed: 9326479},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/komaroff-1997-year-old},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/komaroff-1997-year-old
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