OBJECTIVETo observe the dynamic characteristics of symptoms and tongue figure in SARS patients, and the relationship between them and laboratory indexes.

METHODSThe dynamic changes of 63 patients, who were hospitalized in authors' hospital from March 11 to April 30, 2003, were observed.

RESULTSThe symptoms mostly often revealed in patients of early stage were fever in 56 patients, cough in 41 and weakness or heaviness of limbs in 40, which in patients of middle or crisis stage were cough in 53 and weakness or heaviness of limbs in 43. The clinical symptoms in patients of recovery stage were atypical, they occasionally manifested as limb weakness or heaviness in 17, chest stuffiness or pain in 13, low fever in 11, cough in 12 and expectoration in 11. In the early stage, patients' tongue was pink or red in tongue tip, with thin-white, white-greasy or yellow-greasy coating; in middle stage, tongue in most patients were red, with white-greasy or yellow-thick-greasy coating; in recovery stage, tongues of patients were mostly pink or red in tongue tip, few were dark purple, with thin-white or white-greasy, occasionally yellow-greasy coating.

CONCLUSIONTCM syndrome of SARS patients has its characteristics and regularity of changes, which was in accordance with the laboratory findings.