A Retrospective Study on the Characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medical Syndromes in 3088 Cases of Atherosclerotic Cerebral Infarction / 中医杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine syndrome and the evolution of pathogenesis in different stages of atherosclerotic thrombotic cerebral infarction （ATCI）. MethodsClinical data of 3088 ATCI patients from 8 hospitals in 6 provinces and cities were collected from the hospital information system during January 1， 2015 to December 31， 2019. After staging and counting clinical symptoms， common factors were extracted using the principal component analysis method in factor analysis. Cluster analysis was then carried out on the basis of the factor analysis. The results of the combination of the evidence element identification， cluster analysis and expert discussion were used to discuss the evidence of the different disease stages of atherosclerotic cerebral infarction. ResultsOf the 3088 ATCI patients included， 2290 cases were in the acute phase and 798 in the non-acute phase. Excluding the main symptoms of ischaemic stroke， such as numbness and weakness of limbs， unfavourable movement， unfavourable speech and dizziness， we identified 84 indicators with a frequency ≥5% of the four diagnostic information variables. Of these， 36 indicators were observed in the acute phase and 35 in the non-acute phase. Factor analysis extracted 14 common factors from each phase. We selected factors with a loading coefficient ＞0.3 for evidence determination. These 14 groups of common factors were used as variables for clustering. After clustering， the acute， non-acute phase were each divided into 5 categories. Based on a combination of clinical practice and expert opinion， the symptoms identified in the acute period were syndrome of deficiency of both qi and yin， syndrome of blockade of wind-phlegm-static blood （36.07%）， syndrome of qi deficiency and blood stasis （20.74%）， syndrome of upward disturbance of wind-fire （15.15%）， syndrome of stirring wind due to yin deficiency （9.43%）， and syndrome of spleen deficiency and liver hyperactivity （3.80%）. In the non-acute phase， the symptoms were qi and yin deficiency with syndrome of qi stagnation and blood stasis （45.49%）， syndrome of deficiency of both qi and yin （20.05%）， syndrome of qi stagnation and blood stasis （16.42%）， spleen-kidney deficiency syndrome （8.52%）， and syndrome of hyperactivity of liver yang （4.89%）. ConclusionThe acute phase of AICI is mainly characterized by blood stasis， fire， internal wind， hyperactivity of yang， qi deficiency and yin deficiency， while the non-acute phase is characterized by yin deficiency， qi deficiency， blood stasis and qi stagnation. The main pathomechanism of ATCI involves deficiency of qi and yin， as well as obstruction of the channels by phlegm and blood stasis， and the fundamental pathomechanism is deficiency of qi and yin.