Chronic fatigue syndrome: features of a population of patients from northern italy

In this study we analyzed the clinical features of a population of Italian patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) diagnosed according to the CDC-1994 criteria. The aim was to investigate CFS patients and their relatives, in order to search for events related to the onset of the disease and to identify some correlation with other diseases. The analysis was carried out examining medical records belonging to 82 patients suffering from the syndrome. The documentation was collected between 2008 and 2011 and provided by the non-profit Italian organization AMCFS (Associazione Malati di CFS). The influence of the gender on the age of onset and the association with potential risk factors were investigated in patients and in their relatives. From the results a significant correlation between the age of onset and autoimmunity was observed