Changes in the tongue characteristics distribution in different stages of chronic gastritis shifting to gastric carcinoma.

Objective To analyze the characteristics of the tongue image in the process of chronic gastritis shifting to gastric carcinoma and provide evidence and support for the study of the relationship between TCM tongue characteristic differentiation and the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis shifting to gastric carcinoma. Methods The tongue image data of 3 637 patients with chronic gastritis and 100 patients with primary gastric cancer were collected using a multi-center clinical epidemiological investigation. The tongue image data of patients with chronic non-atrophic gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, chronic gastritis with dysplasia, and primary gastric cancer during the process of the malignant transformation of chronic gastritis were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the tongue image distribution was discussed using cluster analysis. Results The cluster analysis showed that the characteristics of the tongue image could be divided into eight tongue image types that respectively represented the syndrome of qi stagnation of the liver and stomach, heat stagnation of the liver and stomach, dampness and heat of the spleen and stomach, dampness and dampness of the spleen and stomach, weakness of the spleen and stomach, and deficiency of stomach Yin and obstruction of stomach collateral stasis. The distribution of tongue image types differed in different stages of the malignant transformation of chronic gastritis. The overall distribution showed a change rule from excess to deficiency and then from deficiency to excess. Conclusion The characteristics of the tongue image reflect the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis during the process of malignant transformation and can reflect the evolution law of the different stages of the syndrome to a certain extent. This is of great significance for TCM syndrome differentiation and the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]