Naschitz, Jochanan, Fields, Madeline, Isseroff, Hillel et al. · Journal of electrocardiology · 2006 · DOI
This study examined heart rhythm patterns in ME/CFS patients by measuring a specific electrical timing interval on EKGs (called the QT interval). Researchers found that people with ME/CFS had shorter QT intervals than healthy controls, both when lying down and during a head-up tilt test. This shortened interval appears to be linked to the autonomic nervous system problems common in ME/CFS.
Identifying objective cardiac biomarkers in ME/CFS is crucial for diagnosis and understanding disease mechanisms. A consistently shortened QT interval could serve as a measurable physiological marker of autonomic dysfunction in ME/CFS, potentially helping clinicians identify the condition and researchers understand the underlying autonomic pathology.
This study does not prove that shortened QT intervals cause ME/CFS symptoms or that correcting this interval would improve health outcomes. As a cross-sectional study, it cannot establish causality or whether QT shortening is unique to ME/CFS or also occurs in other dysautonomic conditions. The findings also do not explain the mechanism behind the shortened interval.
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
Naschitz, Jochanan, Fields, Madeline, Isseroff, Hillel, Sharif, Dauod, Sabo, Edmond, & Rosner, Itzhak (2006). Shortened QT interval: a distinctive feature of the dysautonomia of chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of electrocardiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelectrocard.2005.10.014
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-naschitz-2006-shortened-interval,
author = {Naschitz, Jochanan and Fields, Madeline and Isseroff, Hillel and Sharif, Dauod and Sabo, Edmond and Rosner, Itzhak},
title = {Shortened QT interval: a distinctive feature of the dysautonomia of chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of electrocardiology},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1016/j.jelectrocard.2005.10.014},
note = {PubMed: 16895768},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/naschitz-2006-shortened-interval},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/naschitz-2006-shortened-interval
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