Discussion On TCM Syndrome Elements And Tongue Imaging Rules At Acute Stage Of Herpes Zoster

Objective:this subject renders preliminary discussion on the syndrome elements and tongue imaging rules at the acute stage of herpes zoster, principally from the literature and clinic perspectives, in an aim to lay theoretical and clinical basis for syndrome differentiation by TCM.Methods:1Literature research:electronic and manual searching, a total of497literature articles concerning or related to herpes zoster at acute stage over the past30years (1983-2013) has been collected. Names of such syndromes have been normalized according to "diagnostic of traditional Chinese medicine","Chinese terms in traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy" and "differential diagnostics of TCM syndrome". Syndrome elements were thus extracted and analyzed by statistical software SPSS13.0to eventually generalize the distribution rules of syndrome elements, such as disease location and nature, of each disease.2Clinical research:clinical data of300acute herpes zoster suffers treated in both the out-patient and in-patient departments of the affiliated hospital of Chengdu university of TCM and Suining hospital of TCM were collected through comprehensive analysis by four examination methods. Syndrome were differentiated by two TCM practitioners with associate professional title or above and analyzed by statistical software SPSS13.0to eventually generalize the distribution rules of syndrome elements, such as disease location and nature, patterns and tongue images.Results:1Literature research:1.1The top3most-mentioned syndrome elements of disease location on acute herpes zoster are sequenced as:liver meridian, liver, spleen.1.2The top3most-mentioned syndrome elements of disease nature on acute herpes zoster are sequenced as:heat, dampness, stagnation of qi.1.311patterns are commonly seen in acute herpes zoster with top3sequenced as: syndrome of heat stagnation in liver meridian, syndrome of qi stagnation and blood stasis, syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness.1.411tongue images are commonly seen in acute herpes zoster with top3sequenced as:red tongue coated by yellow moss, red tongue coated by yellow greasy moss, red tongue coated by yellow thin moss.2Clinical research:2.1The top3most-mentioned syndrome elements of disease location on acute herpes zoster are sequenced as:liver, gallbladder, spleen.2.2The top3most-mentioned syndrome elements of disease nature on acute herpes zoster are sequenced as:dampness, heat, stagnation of blood.2.39patterns are commonly seen in acute herpes zoster with top3sequenced as: syndrome of dampness-heat of liver and gallbladder, syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness, syndrome of qi stagnation and blood stasis.2.49tongue images are commonly seen in acute herpes zoster with top3sequenced as:red tongue coated by yellow thick moss, red tongue coated by yellow greasy moss, light red tongue coated by white greasy moss.3Comparison with literature and clinical researches:3.1Comparison of disease location syndrome elements:liver meridian, liver and spleen are top3most-mentioned syndrome elements of disease location on acute herpes zoster in literature research, while liver, gallbladder and spleen are top3in clinical research.3.2Comparison of disease nature syndrome elements:heat, dampness and stagnation of qi are top3most-mentioned syndrome elements in literature research, as well as dampness, heat and stagnation of blood in clinical research.3.3Comparison of pattern distribution:syndrome of heat stagnation in liver meridian, syndrome of qi stagnation and blood stasis, and syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness are top3patterns in literature research, as well as syndrome of dampness-heat of liver and gallbladder, syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness, syndrome of qi stagnation and blood stasis in clinical research.3.4Comparison of tongue images:red tongue coated by yellow moss, red tongue coated by yellow greasy moss, red tongue coated by yellow thin moss are top3in literature research, as well as red tongue coated by yellow thick moss, red tongue coated by yellow greasy moss, light red tongue coated by white greasy moss in clinical research.Conclusions:1Liver, gallbladder and spleen are the most-mentioned syndrome elements of disease location on acute herpes zoster, preferred clinical treatment includes reliving liver qi and gallbladder qi, drying dampness and strengthening the spleen.2Heat, dampness, qi stagnation and blood stasis are the most-mentioned syndrome elements, preferred clinical treatment includes clearing away heat and dampness, activating qi and blood.3Syndrome of heat stagnation in liver meridian, dampness-heat of liver and gallbladder, syndrome of qi stagnation and blood stasis, and syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness are the most-mentioned patterns, preferred clinical treatment includes reducing liver fire, clearing away dampness and fire of liver and gallbladder, activating qi and blood, and drying dampness and strengthening the spleen.4Red tongue coated by yellow moss is most-mentioned tongue imaging, as well as red tongue coated by yellow thick moss is the most-mentioned tongue imaging in clinical research.