Clinical features and TCM syndrome types of 13 cases of primary Sj?gren's syndrome combined with liver damage
Objective:To explore the clinical features and TCM syndrome types of primary Sjögren's syndrome combined with liver damage,aiming to provide reference for early improvement of patients'prognosis.Methods:Seventy-two cases of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome who were diagnosed and treated in the Department of Rheumatology,Dongguan Hos-pital,Guangdong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from September 2018 to January 2022 were selected as the re-search subjects,and the electronic medical records of all patients were investigated and recorded.The prognosis of all patients were collected in follow-up,and clinical characteristics and TCM syndrome types of all patients were collected and recorded.Results:In the 72 patients,there were 13 patients(including 12 cases of female and 1 case of male)were diagnosed with liver damage,accounting for 18.1%.The main clinical symptoms were dry mouth and dry eyes.The liver damage was mainly char-acterized with increasing levels of GGT and ALP,but the levels of ALT and AST were not significantly increased.Antinuclear antibodies(ANA)were all positive in the 13 patients.According to the TCMclassification,there were 6 cases of liver stagna-tion and spleen deficiency type,4 cases of kidney deficiency type,2 cases of Qi and Yin deficiency type,and 1 case of Yin and Jin(fluid)deficiency type.All 13 patients were successfully discharged after treating with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine,and their liver function returned to normal level in following reexamination after 2-3 weeks'treat-ment.Conclusion:Clinicians should clearly understand the similarities and differences between liver damage caused by prima-ry Sjögren's syndrome and autoimmune liver disease,and could correctly analyze various laboratory test results and make ear-ly diagnosis to perform TCM syndrome type analysis and make the appropriate treatment plan.