Common Medical Abbreviations

280 Pages·1994·10.76 MB·English

by  Luis De Sousa

-
Common Medical
Abbreviations
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Common Medical
Abbreviations
Luis R. DeSousa, M.D., Ph.D.
Joao S. DeSousa, B.Sc., M.Sc.
Simon P. DeSousa, B.Sc., M.Sc.
Maria C. DeSousa, B.Sc., M.T., M...PH
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Common medical abbreviationshis R. DeSousa.. .(et al.).
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8273-6643-4
1. Medicine - Abbreviations-Dictionaries. 2. Medicine - Acronyms-Dictionaries.
3. Medicine - Notation-Dictionaries. I. DeSousa. Luis R.
[DNLM: 1. Medicine-abbreviations. W 13 C734 19941
R123.C595 1994
61 0 . 1484~20
DNLMDLC
for Library of Congress 94-2624 1
CIP
(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)
Contents
vii Preface
ix Acknowledgements
1 Common Medical Abbreviations
257 Appendix A (Common Medical Symbols)
262 Appendix B (Greek Alphabet)
263 Appendix C (Common Cardinal Numerals)
265 Appendix D (Metric Weights and Measures)
267 Appendix E (Common Decimal Factors)
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Preface
For those ofus in the medical world, indiscriminate use ofabbreviations in
our daily parlance and writings has become a necessity. Lacking a universal
forumtocreatetheseabbreviations has ledtomisinterpretation and frequent
frustrationonthe partofmanyreviewers ofhealth records andparlance. This
bookhas beenwritten withnon-medical individuals inmind,andeveryeffort
has been madetocollect the mostfrequentlyusedabbreviations.
To decipher individually created abbreviations seems a formidabletask.
Similar abbreviations have different meanings and connotations in different
medical specialities and for different individuals in the same medical
specialty! They are more the result ofhabit and extensive use by different
individuals and do not follow any specific and established form or order.
Thus some may use a specific abbreviation all in capital letters with or
without periods, others may use all lowercase letters, and some even may
combine capital and lowercase letters. Variations in symbols, Greek, and
Latin letters may be used depending on the individual decision or medical
specialty.
Thiscollectionofabbreviations isarranged inalphabeticalorder, andthe
original Latinwords areitalicizedwhereverneeded. Different meanings ofan
abbreviation are mentioned as well. Different combinations ofcapital and
lowercase letters are given as in mostcommon use. Please note, in certain
instances hyphens are usedto showhowthe abbreviations are derived.
Thiscollectionis in no way a complete list ofall the abbreviations and
their meanings. Every attempt will be made to include newly formed
abbreviations infuture editions.
LuisR. DeSousa,M.D.,Ph.D.
Pleasesendyourcomments orfeedback to the following address:
P.O.Box 19435
Sacramento, California95819-0435
U.S.A.
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Acknowledgements
My gratitude tomy wife, Hind, for her support, and to my son,Philip, for
inspiring meto work onthis book.
Luis R. DeSousa, M.D.,Ph.D.