Longitudinal MRI study in CFS patient: a CDC criteria study

[ixchelkali]

Another GIGO study

None of the CFS patients were considered to be from the extreme end of the symptomatic spectrum (i.e. bedridden or with intense sensitivity to any external stimuli). ​

So first they use the Fukuda criteria, and then they didn't have any patients with obvious neurological defects. Yeah, Jimmie, they looked hard and they still couldn't find it...

Even if the authors of the study were legitimately trying to find a marker, it's not going to work when your patient cohort is corrupted by a flawed case definition. To quote Leonard Jason in his just-published study Sensitivity and Specificity of the CDC Empirical Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Case Definition, "the scientific enterprise depends on reliable and valid ways of classifying patients into diagnostic categories, and this critical research activity can enable investigators to better understand etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment approaches for CFS and other disorders. When diagnostic categories lack reliability and accuracy, the quality of treatment and clinical research can be significantly compromised."

In other words, garbage in, garbage out.

 

[Jerry S]

Yep, ixchelkall. It's hard to believe that after 25 years, the CDC still doesn't have an adequate case definition for their CFS. Even 1994 Fukuda is deeply flawed.

The new Jason paper completely demolishes any claim that Reeves' empirical definition is credible.

 

[John H Wolfe]

This article appears to set the record straight, making direct reference to Perrin's study:

http://www.birpublications.org/doi/abs/10.1259/bjr/93889091

In contrast to the recent report in this journal by Perrin et al. in Manchester, our study confirms that, using voxel-based morphometry, there are indeed significant neuroanatomical changes in CFS