[Analysis of 35 cases of pathology in yin deficiency syndrome]

Thirty-five cases of the pattern of Yin deficiency were studied including 18 cases of Liver and Kidney Yin deficiency, 2 cases of Lung and Kidney Yin deficiency, 15 cases of heat invasion into Ying and Blood with deficiency both in Qi and Yin. These cases displayed the following characteristics: (1) Course of the disease was insidious, protracted and prone to frequent exacerbations. (2) Clinical manifestations resulted mostly from functional impairment or metabolic derangements in vital organs/tissues, thus manifesting pleomorphism and complexity. Pathologic changes could be seen in almost all organs and tissues, being mostly marked in the liver, adrenals, testes, gastrointestinal tract, lungs and heart. The liver showed chronic active inflammatory changes or subacute necrosis. The adrenal cortex was overtly atrophic, involving all zones. Cell cytoplasm was scant and red stained with loss of lipid vesicles. The testis was also markedly atrophic. There was interstitial edema with scattering of convoluted seminiferous tubules. There was mild hyperplasia of the basement membrane. The germinal cell layer was thin and spermatogenesis decreased. Gastrointestinal mucosa was thin generally and submucosal edema was evident. Infiltrating inflammatory cells were predominantly lymphocytes. (3) These changes could be categorized as blood stasis, chronic inflammation, necrosis and atrophy that signify degeneration with impairment or loss of function. As a whole, Yin deficiency syndrome is merely a nonspecific term that covers a conglomeration of sundry chronic disease state.