A Preliminary Study on the Clinical Characteristics and Chinese Medical Syndrome of 42 Cases of COVID-19 in Nanjing

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical characteristics and TCM syndrome features of COVID-19 patients in Nanjing area， so as to provide basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. METHODS The demographic data， epidemiological data， TCM syndrome information， blood examination data and chest CT plain scan reports of 42 patients who met the diagnostic criteria of COVID-19 (Nanjing Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine， from January 21 to February 5， 2020) were collected and analyzed. RESULTS The average age of COVID-19 patients in Nanjing was about 43 years old， most of them were male， 95% of them had the history of close contact with the confirmed patients or a history of travelling and living in Hubei， 40% of them were familial aggregation cases. Most of the clinical types were ordinary type (93%). The total number of leukocytes in peripheral blood of patients was normal or decreased， C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate increased in most patients， and 93% of patients had chest imaging features of viral pneumonia. The main symptoms were cough， fever， muscle soreness， expectoration， sweating， thirst， fatigue. The main tongue features were red tongue， thin， white and greasy coat. The main Chinese medical syndromes were dampness trapped in lung (69%) and heat-toxicity stagnation in lung (31%). There was no significant difference in gender and average age distribution among different syndrome types， but there was statistical difference in fever grade among different syndrome types. CONCLSION The preliminary analysis of COVID-19 in Nanjing is mainly based on the syndrome of dampness trapped in lung， the pathological factors are all related to dampness， heat， toxicity and deficiency， and the core of its pathology is "damp-toxicity".