Table 3 Small fiber assessment
From: Dysautonomia and small fiber neuropathy in post-COVID condition and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Small fiber assessment | HC (n = 50) M (SD) | ME/CFS (n = 50) M (SD) | Post-COVID (n = 87) M (SD) | Statistics (H) | Bonferroni (p) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ME/CFS vs HC | Post-COVID vs HC | |||||
Sympathetic small fibers | ||||||
Sudoscan ESC | ||||||
Feet (μS) | 72.9 (12.5) | 70.8 (14.3) | 74.3 (13.2) | 3.4 | ||
Hands (μS) | 72.4 (10.1) | 66.8 (16.5) | 71. (16.3) | 2.8 | ||
Sensory small fibers | ||||||
QST | ||||||
Heat detection | 35.6 (2.3) | 36.4 (2.5) | 36.9 (2.7) | 13.2** | 0.001 | |
Cold detection | 26.9 (3.3) | 26.9 (4.5) | 26.5 (3.7) | 1.5 | ||
Pain with heat | 43.8 (4.8) | 42.4 (4.6) | 43.1 (4.7) | 2.7 | ||
Pain with cold | 12.5 (9.9) | 15.5 (9.3) | 14.7 (10.1) | 3.2 | ||
Heat detection 2 | 33.5 (1.5) | 34.3 (1.2) | 34.9 (2.6) | 28.9*** | 0.001 | < 0.001 |
Contact evoked potentials | ||||||
Heat | ||||||
N latency | 0.5 (0.1) | 0.7 (0.1) | 0.7 (0.1) | 23.6** | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
N amplitude | – 11.2 (7.5) | – 9.3 (5.7) | – 0.7.9 (4.9) | 7.3* | 0.026 | |
P latency | 0.7 (0.2) | 0.8 (0.2) | 0.8 (0.2) | 17.9** | 0.001 | 0.001 |
P amplitude | 12.8 (6.1) | 13.3 (6.1) | 12.6 (6.1) | 0.6 | ||
Cold | ||||||
N latency | 0.3 (0.01) | 0.3 (0.1) | 0.3 (0.1) | 0.1 | ||
N amplitude | – 8.1 (5.4) | – 8.2 (6.7) | – 8.3 (4.3) | 1.3 | ||
P latency | 0.5 (0.1) | 0.5 (0.1) | 0.5 (0.1) | 0.1 | ||
P amplitude | 13.7 (5.9) | 14.7 (7.9) | 15.3 (6.7) | 2.9 | ||