title: The prognosis after multidisciplinary treatment for patients with postinfectious chronic fatigue syndrome and noninfectious chronic fatigue syndrome.
abstract: The prognosis after multidisciplinary treatment for patients with postinfectious chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS, n = 9) and noninfectious CFS (n = 9) was clarified. After treatment, natural killer (NK) cell activity increased in the postinfectious CFS group but did not recover to within normal range in the noninfectious CFS group. In the postinfectious CFS group, physical and mental symptoms improved, and 8 patients returned to work. In the noninfectious CFS group, symptoms did not improve, and only 3 patients returned to work. The prognosis of postinfectious CFS group was better than that of noninfectious CFS group. Classification of CFS patients into postinfectious and noninfectious groups is useful for choosing the appropriate treatment in order to obtain better prognosis.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1, Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan.
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: Chuwa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000150:complications*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011379:Prognosis; D011611:Psychosomatic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications*