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NCT Number: NCT05954325

Immunoadsorption vs. Sham Treatment in Post COVID-19 Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The complex clinical symptoms of post COVID syndrome, especially chronic fatigue, pose a major challenge to patients and to the health care system and are frequently refractory to therapeutic intervention. There is increasing evidence that a dysregulated post-viral immune response may be involved in the pathogenesis of post COVID syndrome. In uncontrolled case studies, an improvement of fatigue symptoms after removing autoantibodies has been reported in post COVID patients. However, there is a lack of prospective, sham controlled studies. We initiate an interventional, randomised, sham treatment-controlled prospective study, the EXTINCT post COVID study, which aims to scientifically test the therapeutic efficacy of an extracorporeal apheresis procedure (immunoadsorption) for the treatment of a well characterized cohort of patients with post COVID syndrome, while at the same time providing basic research evidence for an understanding of the pathogenesis of post COVID syndrome. Thereby, we expect to obtain important insights into the diagnosis, treatment and pathophysiology of post-COVID syndrome.

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Key information

Conditions

Fatigue COVID-19 Chronic Disease Coronaviridae Infections Coronavirus Infections Disease Attributes Infections Lung Diseases Nidovirales Infections Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Pneumonia Pneumonia, Viral Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome Post-Infectious Disorders RNA Virus Infections Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections Signs and Symptoms Virus Diseases

Age range

18 year–75 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Hannover Medical School

Hanover, Lower Saxony, 30625, Germany

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 18-75 years
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) according to Canadian Consensus Criteria (at two time points > 4 weeks apart) with a duration of > 6 months with new onset < 12 weeks after PCR test confirmed SARS-CoV2-infection
  • Chalder Fatigue Scale >/= 4 binary scale (at two time points > 4 weeks apart)
  • Post exertional malaise >/= 14 h (at two time points > 4 weeks apart)
  • Bell Scale 20-50 (at two time points > 4 weeks apart)
  • Willing to comply with all aspects of the protocol, including blood draws, magnetic resonance imaging and ophthalmological evaluation
  • Patient is able to understand and fully participate in the activities of the study and consent in accordance with guidelines
  • Female patients of childbearing potential who are sexually active must be willing to use an acceptable form of contraception. Female patients must not be pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or be actively breastfeeding through the entire period.

Exclusion citeria:

  • Chronic fatigue due to other medical or psychological condition
  • Preexisting chronic fatigue prior to COVID infection
  • Oxygen requirement or ventilation during acute phase of COVID
  • Positive SARS-CoV-2-PCR test at the beginning of the study
  • Comorbidity bearing risk that patient might not tolerate treatment as judged by investigator including among others: malignant disease within the last 5 years, moderate to severe renal impairment (eGFR <60 ml/min), cardiac insufficiency (LVEF <40%), severe coronary heart disease, severe hypercoagulability
  • Acute or severe psychiatric disease
  • Active/acute infectious diseases like CMV, EBV, HBV, HCV, HIV, TBC
  • Patients who in the investigator's opinion might not be suitable for study (difficult peripheral venous access, not able to complete questionnaires e.g. due to language problems)
  • Taking immunosuppressive medication >3 weeks within 12 months before study inclusion
  • Any apheresis therapy before study inclusion
  • Contraindications for magnetic resonance imaging
  • Patients revealing abnormal brain structures visible in MR images
  • Patients with pre-existing ophthalmological condition or diabetes mellitus

Treatment and study plan

Immunoadsorption vs. sham immunoadsorption

Procedure

5 treatments within 14 days

Other names: Apheresis

Primary outcomes

  1. Chalder Fatigue Scale

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Time course of fatigue symptoms as determined based on Chalder Fatigue Scale (ranging from 0 to 33), higher values indicating a higher burden of fatigue symptoms

Secondary outcomes

  1. Cognitive Function

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Assessment of cognitive function measured by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (Scale 0-30), lower values indicating cognitive impairment

  2. Post exertional malaise symptoms

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Assessment of frequency and severity of post exertional malaise symptoms (frequency: 0-20, severity: 0-20, duration), higher values indicating a higher burden of post exertional malaise symptoms

  3. Measure of health status

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Evaluation of health status by Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)

  4. Depression and Anxiety

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Symptoms of depression and anxiety measured by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

  5. Autonomic dysfunction

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Symptoms of autonomic dysfunction assessed by Composite Autonomic Symptom Score (COMPASS 31), generating a weighted score from 0 to 100, with higher scores representing higher symptom burden

  6. 6-min. walk test

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Walking distance, oxygen saturation, heart rate and dyspnea assessed during 6-min. walk test

  7. Hand grip strength

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Hand grip strength measured via digital hand dynamometer

  8. Optical coherence tomography angiography

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Assessment of retinal microcirculation

  9. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Cranial magnetic resonance imaging and assessment of region-dependent metabolic distributions

  10. Symptoms related to chronic fatigue before and after immunoadsorption

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Change of symptoms as measured by Fluge score, using a scale ranging from 1 to 10 (higher values representing higher symptom load) assessing 32 fatigue related symptoms and their intra-patient change from baseline to follow-up

  11. Neurocognitive function

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Attentional deficits as assessed by Test of Attentional Performance

Other outcomes

  1. Safety and tolerability of immunoadsorption treatment

    Time frame: 12 weeks

    Number of treatment emergent adverse events, serious adverse events and discontinuation due to treatment emergent adverse events

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Hannover Medical School

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Extracorporal Apheresis Hannover Medical School Study in Post COVID-19 Patients

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2025
First posted
Jul 20, 2023
Registry last updated
Sep 15, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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