Steiner, Sophie, Fehrer, Annick, Hoheisel, Friederike et al. · Autoimmunity reviews · 2023 · DOI
Over 100 international researchers gathered in Berlin in May 2023 to discuss what we currently know about ME/CFS, how to diagnose it, and how to treat it. The conference highlighted that ME/CFS involves problems with the immune system, blood vessel function, and nervous system control, and that some cases may be triggered by viruses reactivating in the body. Despite growing interest due to Long COVID, ME/CFS remains under-researched and needs significantly more funding to find better diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.
This conference report captures the current scientific consensus on ME/CFS from leading international experts and identifies critical research gaps during a pivotal moment when Long COVID has increased disease visibility and research funding. It provides patients and clinicians with an authoritative overview of emerging diagnostic and treatment approaches, while emphasizing that substantial additional research is needed to move from general pathomechanism understanding to specific, actionable interventions.
This is a conference summary and evidence map, not a primary research study; it does not prove any novel hypotheses but rather synthesizes existing knowledge and expert opinion. The document does not establish definitive causative mechanisms, validated diagnostic criteria, or efficacy of any specific treatment—it identifies these as future research priorities. The findings represent areas of scientific consensus but do not constitute proof at the level of controlled trials or robust mechanistic studies.
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
Steiner, Sophie, Fehrer, Annick, Hoheisel, Friederike, Schoening, Simon, Aschenbrenner, Anna, Babel, Nina, et al. (2023). Understanding, diagnosing, and treating Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome - State of the art: Report of the 2nd international meeting at the Charité Fatigue Center.. Autoimmunity reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2023.103452
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-steiner-2023-understanding-diagnosing,
author = {Steiner, Sophie and Fehrer, Annick and Hoheisel, Friederike and Schoening, Simon and Aschenbrenner, Anna and Babel, Nina and Bellmann-Strobl, Judith and Finke, Carsten and Fluge, Øystein and Froehlich, Laura and Goebel, Andreas and Grande, Bettina and Haas, Johannes-Peter and Hohberger, Bettina and Jason, Leonard A and Komaroff, Anthony L and Lacerda, Eliana and Liebl, Max and Maier, Andrea and Mella, Olav and Nacul, Luis and Paul, Friedemann and Prusty, Bhupesh K and Puta, Christian and Riemekasten, Gabriela and Ries, Wolfgang and Rowe, Peter C and Sawitzki, Birgit and Shoenfeld, Yehuda and Schultze, Joachim L and Seifert, Martina and Sepúlveda, Nuno and Sotzny, Franziska and Stein, Elisa and Stingl, Michael and Ufer, Friederike and Veauthier, Christian and Westermeier, Francisco and Wirth, Klaus and Wolfarth, Bernd and Zalewski, Pawel and Behrends, Uta and Scheibenbogen, Carmen},
title = {Understanding, diagnosing, and treating Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome - State of the art: Report of the 2nd international meeting at the Charité Fatigue Center.},
journal = {Autoimmunity reviews},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1016/j.autrev.2023.103452},
note = {PubMed: 37742748},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/steiner-2023-understanding-diagnosing},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/steiner-2023-understanding-diagnosing
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