Research abstract:

Importance: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a chronic disease resulting in considerable and widespread cognitive deficits. Accurate and accessible measurement of the extent and nature of these deficits can aid healthcare providers and researchers in the diagnosis of this condition, choosing interventions and tracking treatment effects.

Here, we present a case of a middle-aged man diagnosed with CFS which began following a typical viral illness.

Observations: LORETA source density measures of surface EEG connectivity at baseline were performed on 3 minutes of eyes closed deartifacted19-channel qEEG. The techniques used to analyze the data are described along with the hypothesized effects of the deregulation found in this data set.

Nearly all (>90%) patients with CFS complain of cognitive deficits such as slow thinking, difficulty in reading comprehension, reduced learning and memory abilities and an overall feeling of being in a “fog.”Therefore, impairment may be seen in deregulated connections with other regions (functional connectivity); this functional impairment may serve as one cause of the cognitive decline in CFS. Here, the functional connectivity networks of this patient were sufficiently deregulated to cause the symptoms listed above.

Conclusions and significance: This case report increased our understanding of CFS from the perspective of brain functional networks by offering some possible explanations for cognitive deficits in patients with CFS. There are only a few reports of using source density analysis or qEEG connectivity analysis for cognitive deficits in CFS.

While no absolute threshold exists to advise the physician as to when to conduct such analyses, the basis of his or her decision whether or not to use these tools should be a function of clinical judgment and experience. These analyses may potentially aid in clinical diagnosis, symptom management, treatment response and can alert the physician as to when intervention may be warranted.

qEEG / LORETA in Assessment of Neurocognitive Impairment in a Patient with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case Report Marcie L Zinn, Mark A Zinn, Leonard A Jason in Clin Res 2(1), 30 Jan 2016