THE CASE-HISTORY OF AN ELITE ULTRA-ENDURANCE CYCLIST WHO DEVELOPED CHRONIC-FATIGUE-SYNDROME

An elite ultra-endurance athlete, who had previously undergone physiol ogical and performance testing, developed chronic fatigue syndrome (CF S). An incremental cycling exercise test conducted while he was suffer ing from CFS indicated decreases in maximum workload achieved (W-max; -11.3%), the maximum oxygen uptake ((V) over dot O-2max; -12.5%), and the anaerobic threshold (AT; -14.3%) compared to pre-CFS data. A third test conducted after the athlete had shown indications of significant improvement in his clinical condition revealed further decreases in W -max (-7.9%), (V) over dot O-2max (-10.2%) and AT (-8.3%). These data, along with submaximal exercise data and muscle biopsy electron micros copic analyses, suggest that the performance decrements were the resul t of detraining, rather than an impairment of aerobic metabolism due t o CFS per se. These data may be indicative of central, possibly neurol ogical, factors influencing fatigue perception in CFS sufferers.