RESULTS: The data of the 398 newly diagnosed patients showed that Qi Stagnation, Blood Stasis, and Dampness patterns were more frequent than the other basic patterns with relatively high scores; patterns of Liver Qi Stagnation, Liver Blood Stasis, and Dampness Heat were more than the other complex patterns and scored relatively high. Scores of Dampness and Liver Qi Stagnation patterns varied among the groups at different stages and the differences were statistically significant (PDampness = 0.002, PLiver Qi Stagnation = 0.020). The highest scores of Dampness pattern and Liver Qi Stagnation pattern corresponded with Stage Ⅲb, and Stage Ⅲa, respectively. Dampness pattern frequency was higher (P = 0.001) in the Stage Ⅲb group than in other groups.