Serratrice, G · Revue du rhumatisme et des maladies osteo-articulaires · 1990
This 1990 editorial questions whether fibromyalgia is a distinct disease, noting that no actual tissue damage (fibrosis) has been found under microscopes. The author argues that fibromyalgia shares symptoms with other conditions like ME/CFS and suggests using the simpler term 'persistent, widespread muscle pain with no recognized organic cause' instead. The author found that only 25% of cases had a clear psychological cause, suggesting most cases have other unexplained factors.
This historical perspective is relevant to ME/CFS patients because it highlights longstanding confusion about diagnostic categories and disease definitions in post-viral and unexplained fatigue/pain syndromes. The editorial's call for clearer, symptom-based terminology anticipates modern debates about ME/CFS classification and the need to separate descriptive symptoms from mechanistic assumptions. Understanding this conceptual history helps patients and advocates recognize that diagnostic uncertainty is not new and has contributed to underdiagnosis and delayed treatment.
This editorial does not definitively establish the cause of fibromyalgia or related conditions, nor does it prove that psychological factors are unimportant—finding psychological factors in only 25% of cases does not explain the remaining 75%. The editorial's proposed terminology does not establish what the underlying biological mechanism is, only what it is not (fibrosis). As a 1990 editorial without contemporary neuroimaging or biomarker data, it cannot address modern evidence of central sensitization or immune dysfunction.
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
Serratrice, G (1990). [Does fibromyalgia exist?].. Revue du rhumatisme et des maladies osteo-articulaires. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2188344/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-serratrice-1990-does-fibromyalgia,
author = {Serratrice, G},
title = {[Does fibromyalgia exist?].},
journal = {Revue du rhumatisme et des maladies osteo-articulaires},
year = {1990},
note = {PubMed: 2188344},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/serratrice-1990-does-fibromyalgia},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/serratrice-1990-does-fibromyalgia
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