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

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318 | <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT <strong>Release</strong> <strong>Format</strong> 1 (<strong>RF1</strong>) <strong>Guide</strong> July 2012<br />

4.4.2.2. Using | is a | Relationships for hierarchy navigation<br />

4.4.2.2.1. What is the <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT hierarchy?<br />

The "<strong>SNOMED</strong> CT hierarchy" refers to the organization of concepts in <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT from the general, at the<br />

top of the hierarchy, to the more specific or "granular" at the bottom. The concepts that make up the very top<br />

level of the hierarchy are shown in Table 247. All other <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT concepts fall under one or more of these<br />

categories.<br />

Table 247: Top Level Concepts<br />

• | Clinical finding |<br />

• | Procedure |<br />

• | Observable entity |<br />

• | Body structure |<br />

• | Organism |<br />

• | Substance |<br />

• | Pharmaceutical / biologic product |<br />

• | Specimen |<br />

• | Special concept |<br />

• | Linkage concept |<br />

• | Physical force |<br />

• | Event |<br />

• | Environment or geographical location |<br />

• | Social context |<br />

• | Situation with explicit context |<br />

• | Staging and scales |<br />

• | Physical object |<br />

• | Qualifier value |<br />

• | Record artifact |<br />

Several levels of increasingly fine categorization may exist between the top level of the hierarchy and concepts<br />

that have sufficient detail to be recorded in a patient's medical record. Figure 46 shows the levels of hierarchy<br />

that exist between the top-level Concept "Finding/disorder" and the finding "Catatonic reaction."<br />

Figure 46: Hierarchy example: Catatonic Reaction<br />

4.4.2.2.2. How is hierarchical information represented in the relationships table?<br />

The <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT relationships table represents Relationships between one <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT concept and<br />

another by including a row in the table for each such Relationship. The columns ConceptId1, Relationship<br />

Type and ConceptId2 define the source of the Relationship, the kind of Relationship that exists and the target<br />

of the Relationship respectively. Each of these fields, including Relationship Type, is a <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT concept<br />

Identifier. Hierarchical Relationships are expressed by linking the source concept to its "parents" i.e. the<br />

concept or concepts immediately above it in the hierarchy.The Relationship Type used to make this hierarchical<br />

link is known as the | is a | Relationship.<br />

For example, we can say | Catatonic reaction | | is a | | Psychological finding |, this would be expressed in<br />

the relationships table as follows:<br />

© 2002-2012 International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation CVR #: 30363434

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