title: Objective tongue inspection on 142 liver cancer patients with damp-heat syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish the diagnosis evidence of objective tongue inspection for liver cancer (LC) patients with damp-heat syndrome (DHS) by dynamically observing their tongue figures using modern tongue image analytic apparatus, and to explore the effect of intervention on the tongue figures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tongue figures were collected from 142 LC patients with DHS by tongue image analytic apparatus. Red (R), green (G) and blue (B) values were analyzed. The r and g values were calculated requesting r=R/(R+G+B), g=G/(R+G+B), and b=1-r-g, and scored in combination with Chinese medical symptoms scale. The tongue figure and correlated scores were collected from 59 of them 3 days after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The range of objective tongue inspection of LC patients with DHS was as follows: as for tongue fur, 0.360<r<0.402 and 0.280<g<0.322; as for tongue proper, 0.404<r<0.470 and 0.243<g<0.301. The tongue figures and the average scores of quality of life, DHS, poor appetite, aggravated pain, decreased sleep quality and aggravated fever were obviously changed in the 59 LC patients with DHS after intervention, showing statistical difference when compared with before intervention (P<0.05 or P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The range of objective tongue inspection of LC patients with DHS could be known by collecting and analyzing objective indicator of tongue figures, thus laying foundation for further studies with analysis of correlation between intervention and Chinese medicine based on tongue figures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200001, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ting-hui
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Wei-zhe
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Ru
authors.forename: Ai-wu
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D019370:Observation; D013577:Syndrome; D014059:Tongue / Q000473:pathology*