Mehdi Skhiri—Cardiovascular Aging in CFS/ME

He talked about 3 studies:

1. Small heart syndrome (Japan)—56 cases, 38 controls. There was significant difference between the CFS patients and controls using chest xray and echo, with patients having a smaller heart. However in the CFS group, only those with a low cardiac index were included, but this did not apply to controls.

2. Impaired cardiac function in CFS measured by MRI tagging—12 patients, 10 controls. The cardiac index (equivalent to output) was lower in CFS. Left ventricular volume was down, there were reduced cavity volumes, and reduced stroke volume and cardiac output. This correlated with a markedly reduced blood volume.

3. Evidence of diminished cardiac function. The study involved sedentary and non-sedentary controls and mild and severe CFS patients. 12 lead ECG was used. Cardiac index was down in patients who also had a possibly 15% decreased blood volume.

Problems noted: no data on vascular pathology, no study without some bias, cardiovascular matching is not easy to achieve.

A further phenotyping study was presented, with 82 patients. Exclusion included, obesity, athletes, Ehlers danlos, any cardiac condition and those unable to exercise. Results showed: cardiac remodeling in patients, with smaller cavities (because of different levels of fitness), no clear differences between L and R ventricular function and no signs of early cardiovascular aging or increased risks.