Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Patterns and Their Association with Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Levels during the Natural History of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Table 2

Differentiating standards of the five patterns of TCMS.

Syndrome	Main points of differentiation
LQD	Irritability, depression, fullness or pain in the hypochondrium, slight yellow coat on the tongue, taut pulse
LKD	Dry eyes and throat, feverish sensation in the chest and palms, lumbar debility, scanty coating on the tongue, fine and rapid pulse
LGDH	Fatigue, bitter mouth, dark urine (jaundice), unsmooth bowel movement, yellow and oily coat on the tongue
SKD	Poor appetite, urinary frequency or enuresis, loose stool, cold feeling and weakness in the lumbar spine and knee, white slippery coating on the tongue, moderate pulse
BSBC	Needle-pricking sensation and pain, dark face, dark tongue, fine and sluggish pulse

BSBC: blood stasis blocking collateral; LGDH: damp-heat in liver-gallbladder; LKD: liver-kidney deficiency; LQD: liver-qi depression; SKD: spleen-kidney deficiency; TCMS: traditional Chinese medicine syndrome.