Two-timepoint multidomain follow-up of post-COVID condition and ME/CFS: overlapping autonomic, small-fiber, and cognitive changes - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #Neurological Follow-up
- #Post-COVID Condition
- #ME/CFS
- Longitudinal study compares PCC and ME/CFS patients over ~31 months, showing overlapping symptoms.
- ME/CFS had longer baseline disease duration (42 vs. 12 months) but similar follow-up interval.
- Baseline differences in small-fiber, autonomic, and hemodynamic measures did not survive FDR correction.
- Cross-domain analysis linked small-fiber symptoms with autonomic burden and fatigue.
- Fatigue negatively correlated with cognitive domains like processing speed, attention, and executive function.
- Over time, improvements in CHEPs and verbal memory, but declines in processing speed and QST cold thresholds.
- PCC symptoms increasingly resemble ME/CFS, suggesting shared post-infectious mechanisms, though not identical trajectories.