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Chronic fatigue syndrome

Alternative Names:

CFS; Fatigue - chronic; Immune dysfunction syndrome

Symptoms:

Symptoms of CFS are similar to those of most common viral infections (muscle aches, headache, and fatigue), often developing within a few hours or days and lasting for 6 months or more.

Main symptoms:

Other symptoms:

Signs and tests:

Physical examination may confirm the fever, lymph node tenderness, lymph node swelling, or other symptoms. The throat may appear red without drainage or pus.

The health care provider can presume a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) only after ruling out all other known possible causes of fatigue, such as:

A diagnosis of CFS must include:

There are no specific tests to confirm the diagnosis of CFS, though a variety of tests are usually done to exclude other possible causes of the symptoms.

There are some typical findings on tests that, while not specific enough to diagnose CFS, are seen consistently in people who are eventually diagnosed with the disorder. These include:

References:

Harris ED, Budd RC, Genovese MC, Firestein GS, Sargent JS, Sledge CB. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology . 7th ed. St. Louis, Mo: WB Saunders; 2005:525.

Rakel P, ed. Conn ’s Current Therapy 2006 . 58th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2006: 138-141.

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