DICTIONARY OF MEDICAL ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS - 5th Ed. (2005)
FRONT MATTER
TITLE PAGE
Dictionary of Medical Acronyms & Abbreviations
5th Edition
Compiled and edited by
Stanley Jablonski
COPYRIGHT PAGE
ELSEVIER
SAUNDERS
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Dictionary of Medical Acronyms & Abbreviations
Copyright © 2005, Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2004108494
Previous editions copyrighted 2001, 1997, 1992, 1987 by Elsevier.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56053-632-1
ISBN-10: 1-56053-632-2
Acquisitions Editor: Linda Belfus
Chief Lexicographer: Douglas M. Anderson
Publishing Services Manager: Tina Rebane
Project Manager: Norman Stellander
Designer: Gene Harris
Printed in the United States of America
Last digit is the print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
Acronyms and abbreviations are used extensively in medicine, science and technology for good reason⎯they
are more essential in such fields. It would be difficult to imagine how one could write down chemical and
mathematical formulas and equations without using abbreviations or symbols. In medicine, they are used as a
convenient shorthand in writing medical records, instructions, and prescriptions, and as space-saving devices in
printed literature. It is easier and more economical to write down the acronyms HETE and RAAS than their full
names 12-L-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, respectively.
The main reason for abbreviations is said to be economy. Some actually save space in print, such as acronyms
for the names of institutions and organizational units, as well as being convenient to use. Many are used for
other reasons, as for instance, when trying to be delicate, we may euphemistically refer to bowel movement as
