SNOMED CT® Release Format 1 (RF1) Guide - ihtsdo

14 | SNOMED CT Release Format 1 (RF1) Guide July 2012
of the concept that represents the clinical diagnosis that a clinician makes when they decide that a person
has a “hematoma”.
2.1.1.2.2. Preferred Term
Each concept has one Preferred Term in a given language dialect. The Preferred Term is a common word
or phrase used by clinicians to name that concept.
Example: the concept 54987000 | repair of common bile duct (procedure) | has the Preferred Term |
choledochoplasty | to represent a common name clinicians use to describe the procedure.
Note: Unlike the Fully Specified Name (FSN) the Preferred Terms need not be unique. Occasionally,
the Preferred Term for one concept may also be a Synonym or the Preferred Term for a different concept.
Interpretation in these cases will depend on context of use.
Example:
• | Cold sensation quality (qualifier value) | has a preferred term of “Cold”;
• | Common cold (disorder) | also has a synonym of “Cold”.
In both cases, “cold” represents a common clinical phrase used to capture the meaning of the concept.
Note: Selection of one term over another as "preferred" in a given language dialect depends entirely on
whose preferences are being expressed. Different users are likely to have different preferences, and
implementers are encouraged to select or create terms that properly represent the concept and meet
the preferences of users.There is no expectation that the Preferred Term distributed with a given language
dialect will meet all use cases; nor is there anything sacrosanct about the term.The U.S. English Preferred
Term is not guaranteed to have any special status relative to other terms. Rather, it is merely one term
that properly represents the concept and can be used as a starting point.
2.1.1.2.3. Synonym
A synonym represents a term, other than the FSN or Preferred Term, that can be used to represent a concept
in a particular language or dialect.
Example: Synonyms of the concept 22298006 | myocardial infarction (disorder) | in English include:
• | cardiac infarction | (Description.id: 37442013);
• | heart attack | (Description.id: 37443015);
• | infarction of heart | (Description.id: 37441018).
The Preferred Term for this concept in English is: | myocardial infarction | (Description.id: 37436014).
Note: Synonyms, like Preferred Terms, are not required to be unique.
2.1.1.3. Relationships
A Relationship represents an association between two Concepts.
Each Relationship is identified by a unique RelationshipId and is distributed as a row in the Relationships
Table.
A Relationship contains Identifiers of two logically associated Concepts and the Identifier of another Concept
that indicates the RelationshipType by which they are associated.
© 2002-2012 International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation CVR #: 30363434