Pinardi, G, Scarlato, G · Recenti progressi in medicina · 1990
This review describes ME/CFS as a complex condition marked by severe, long-lasting fatigue accompanied by symptoms like sore throat, headaches, muscle pain, and mood changes. While researchers have suspected viruses like Epstein-Barr virus might cause it, the evidence hasn't been convincing due to study design problems. The authors suggest the condition may result from an abnormal immune response rather than a single virus.
This review highlights a critical gap in ME/CFS research that persisted in 1990: the lack of standardized diagnostic criteria and methodologically sound studies. By identifying these foundational problems, it underscores why progress in understanding and treating ME/CFS requires better research infrastructure—a lesson relevant to current efforts to establish consistent case definitions and investigate immune dysfunction.
This review does not prove that any specific virus causes ME/CFS, nor does it establish that immune dysfunction is definitively responsible—it only suggests this as a more likely hypothesis than single-virus infection. The authors acknowledge that existing viral studies were too methodologically flawed to draw firm conclusions. This is a critical review, not a primary research study with new data.
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
Pinardi, G & Scarlato, G (1990). [The chronic fatigue syndrome. A multifactorial approach and the treatment possibilities].. Recenti progressi in medicina. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2075278/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-pinardi-1990-chronic-fatigue,
author = {Pinardi, G and Scarlato, G},
title = {[The chronic fatigue syndrome. A multifactorial approach and the treatment possibilities].},
journal = {Recenti progressi in medicina},
year = {1990},
note = {PubMed: 2075278},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/pinardi-1990-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/pinardi-1990-chronic-fatigue
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