Observational studyJournal of translational medicine2022
Long-term neuromuscular consequences of SARS-Cov-2 and their similarities with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: results of the retrospective CoLGEM study.
Observational study in Journal of translational medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- No Causal Effects Detected in COVID-19 and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Two Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Persistent impairments in muscle function and symptom burden in post-COVID syndrome: a prospective longitudinal study.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Observational
- Characterization of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome in Long COVID: Self-reported Data From the LISTEN Study.JACC. Advances · 2025Article
- Internal Tremors and Vibrations in Long COVID: A Cross-Sectional Study.The American journal of medicine · 2025Article
- A pilot cross-sectional investigation of symptom clusters and associations with patient-reported outcomes in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Post COVID-19 Condition.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Illness presentation and quality of life in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and post COVID-19 condition: a pilot Australian cross-sectional study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Exploring the Pathophysiology of Long COVID: The Central Role of Low-Grade Inflammation and Multisystem Involvement.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Impaired Hand Grip Strength Correlates with Greater Disability and Symptom Severity in Post-COVID Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Post-COVID central hypersomnia, a treatable trait in long COVID: 4 case reports.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Post-COVID exercise intolerance is associated with capillary alterations and immune dysregulations in skeletal muscles.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2023Article
- Effect of physical activity on long COVID fatigue: an unsolved enigma.European journal of translational myology · 2023Article
- The Potential Role of Hypothalamic Phospholipid Liposomes in the Supportive Therapy of Some Manifestations of Post-COVID-19 Condition: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Brain Fog.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- ME/CFS and Long COVID share similar symptoms and biological abnormalities: road map to the literature.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- What has cardiac rehabilitation looked like in the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned for the future.Progress in cardiovascular diseasesReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients with long-COVID often complain of continuous fatigue, myalgia, sleep problems, cognitive dysfunction, and post-exertional malaise. No data are available on EMG recording of evoked myopotentials (M-waves) or exercise-induced alterations in long-COVID patients, providing evidence of muscle membrane fatigue. Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) develops in more than half of patients after an infectious disease, particularly viral diseases. A large proportion (around 70%) of these patients have neuromuscular disorders with M-wave alterations during and after exercise. Our hypothesis was that M-wave alterations would be also found in long-COVID patients, in association with neuromuscular symptoms, similar to ME/CFS.
methodsThis retrospective observational ColGEM (Covid LonG Encéphalomyelite Myalgique) study compared 59 patients with long-COVID and 55 ME/CFS patients with a history of severe infection who presented before the COVID pandemic. All of these patients underwent the same protocol consisting of a questionnaire focusing on neural and neuromuscular disorders and M-wave recording in the rectus femoris muscle before, during, and 10 min after a progressive cycling exercise. Maximal handgrip strength (MHGS) and maximal exercise power were also measured. The frequency of symptoms and magnitude of M-wave changes in the two groups were compared using non-parametric and parametric tests.
resultsThe frequency of fatigue, myalgia, sleep problems, cognitive dysfunction, and post-exertional malaise as well as the magnitude of exercise-induced M-wave alterations were the same in the two groups. By contrast, digestive problems were less present in long-COVID. M-wave alterations were greater in ME/CFS patients as in those with long-COVID when the highest muscle strength and highest exercise performance were measured.
conclusionsThese high clinical and biological similarities between long-COVID and ME/CFS support the hypothesis that SARS-Cov-2 infection can cause ME/CFS symptoms. Trial registration Registered retrospectively.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.