Lerner, A Martin, Dworkin, Howard J, Sayyed, Tawfeeq et al. · In vivo (Athens, Greece) · 2004
This study examined whether certain ME/CFS patients have heart problems caused by incomplete viral infections with Epstein-Barr virus or cytomegalovirus. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients with specific viral antibodies in their blood were more likely to show abnormal heart wall movement compared to control patients without ME/CFS. Some ME/CFS patients even showed heart tissue damage (cardiomyopathy) on biopsy.
This study provides objective evidence of cardiac dysfunction in a subset of ME/CFS patients and proposes a specific viral mechanism, which could explain exercise intolerance and hemodynamic abnormalities reported by many patients. If confirmed in larger cohorts, this finding might identify a treatable subgroup and help validate ME/CFS as having detectable biological pathology.
This study does not prove that incomplete herpesvirus multiplication causes cardiomyopathy in ME/CFS—it demonstrates association only. The presence of diagnostic antibodies and cardiac wall motion abnormalities may both result from a separate underlying cause rather than one causing the other. Additionally, the findings apply only to the subset of ME/CFS patients with these specific viral antibodies, not all ME/CFS patients.
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
Lerner, A Martin, Dworkin, Howard J, Sayyed, Tawfeeq, Chang, Chung Ho, Fitzgerald, James T, Beqaj, Safedin, et al. (2004). Prevalence of abnormal cardiac wall motion in the cardiomyopathy associated with incomplete multiplication of Epstein-barr Virus and/or cytomegalovirus in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. In vivo (Athens, Greece). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15369178/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lerner-2004-prevalence-abnormal,
author = {Lerner, A Martin and Dworkin, Howard J and Sayyed, Tawfeeq and Chang, Chung Ho and Fitzgerald, James T and Beqaj, Safedin and Deeter, Robert G and Goldstein, James and Gottipolu, Padmaja and O'Neill, William},
title = {Prevalence of abnormal cardiac wall motion in the cardiomyopathy associated with incomplete multiplication of Epstein-barr Virus and/or cytomegalovirus in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {In vivo (Athens, Greece)},
year = {2004},
note = {PubMed: 15369178},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lerner-2004-prevalence-abnormal},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lerner-2004-prevalence-abnormal
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