This study aims to explore the medication rule of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) for heart failure after myocardial infarction via data mining. To be specific, articles on the treatment of the disease with Chinese medicine were retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and SinoMed and related information was collected. A database was created with Microsoft Excel 2019, and SPSS Clementine 12.0 and IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 were applied for association rules analysis, cluster analysis, and factor analysis. Finally, a total of 81 TCM prescriptions were screened out, involving 91 medicinals with cumulative use frequency of 740. The main syndromes were Qi deficiency and blood stasis, Yang Qi deficiency and blood stasis together with retained morbid fluid, deficiency of both Qi and Yin and blood stasis. The medicinals with high-frequency were Astragali Radix, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, Poria, and Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata. The effects of the medicinals were tonifying deficiency, activating blood and resolving stasis, and promoting urination and draining dampness. The association rules analysis yielded "Astragali Radix-Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma" "Astragali Radix-Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata-Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma" "Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata-Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma-Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma-Astragali Radix" combinations. Cluster analysis yielded 6 basic formulas for heart failure after myocardial infarction. Factor analysis extracted a total of 8 common factors. Heart failure after myocardial infarction is characterized by the syndrome of deficiency in nature and excess in superficiality. The core pathogenesis is "deficiency" "stasis" "retained morbid fluid", particularly "deficiency". This disease is closely related to the heart, lung, and spleen. The basic treatment principle is replenishing Qi and activating blood, and warming Yang, excreting water, and nourishing yin should also be emphasized. The common basic prescriptions, such as Siwu Decoction, Shengmai Powder, Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction, Linggui Zhugan Decoction, and Shenfu Decoction, have been discovered. This study provided data for clinical medication and drug development for heart failure after myocardial infarction.
Keywords: Chinese medicine; data mining; heart failure after myocardial infarction; medication rule.