{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,4]],"date-time":"2025-10-04T07:51:07Z","timestamp":1759564267771,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,30]],"date-time":"2023-11-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1701302400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS) is a complex, chronic, multi-system disorder that is characterized by a substantial impairment in the activities that were well tolerated before the illness. In an earlier report, we had described three adult women who met criteria for ME\/CFS and orthostatic intolerance, and had congenital or acquired cervical spinal stenosis. All three experienced substantial global improvements in their ME\/CFS and orthostatic intolerance symptoms after recognition and surgical treatment of the cervical stenosis. After a several year period of improvement, one of the individuals in that series experienced a return of ME\/CFS and orthostatic intolerance symptoms.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Main symptoms and clinical findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>Radiologic investigation confirmed a recurrence of the ventral compression of the spinal cord due to a shift of the disc replacement implant at the involved cervical spinal level.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Therapeutic intervention<\/jats:title><jats:p>Decompression of the spinal cord with removal of the implant and fusion at the original C5-C6 level was once again followed by a similar degree of improvement in function as had been observed after the first operation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>This recapitulation of the outcomes after surgical management of cervical stenosis provides further evidence in support of the hypothesis that cervical spinal stenosis can exacerbate pre-existing or cause new orthostatic intolerance and ME\/CFS. Especially for those with refractory symptoms and neurological signs, surgical interventions may offer relief for selected patients with this complex condition.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2023.1284062","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,30]],"date-time":"2023-11-30T09:01:47Z","timestamp":1701334907000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Case report: Recurrent cervical spinal stenosis masquerading as myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome with orthostatic intolerance"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"suffix":"III","given":"Charles C.","family":"Edwards","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"suffix":"II","given":"Charles C.","family":"Edwards","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Scott","family":"Heinlein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter C.","family":"Rowe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,30]]},"reference":[{"volume-title":"Beyond Myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome: redefining an illness. 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