| Abbrev. |
Meaning |
| ā before |
(a with a bar over it) before (from Latin ante)
artery |
| A |
adenosine
apical |
| a.a. |
of each (from Latin ana ana)
amino acids:
|
| A1C |
glycosylated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c) |
| AAA |
abdominal aortic aneurysm (pronounced "triple-A") |
| AAPMC |
antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis |
| AAT |
activity as tolerated |
| AAL |
anterior axillary line |
| AAOx3 |
awake, alert, and oriented, times 3 (i.e., to person, place, and time) |
| A/B |
acid-base ratio |
| ab |
abdomen
abdominal |
| Ab |
antibody |
| AB |
abortion |
| ABC |
airway, breathing, circulation
aspiration biopsy cytology |
| ABCD |
airway, breathing, circulation, disability
asymmetry, borders, color, diameter (features on considering "Is it a malignant melanoma?")
ABCD rating (a staging system for prostate cancer) |
ABCs
ABCDs
ABCDEs |
airway, breathing, circulation, etc. Refers to priority of needs in emergency situations. Exact spell-out and details after "C" vary by institution, but the "ABCs" theme is recurrent. |
| Abd |
abdomen
abdominal |
| ABE |
acute bacterial endocarditis |
| ABG |
arterial blood gas |
| ABI |
acquired brain injury
ankle brachial pressure index |
| ABMT |
autologous bone marrow transplantation |
| Abn |
abnormal |
| ABO |
Landsteiner's blood grouping system |
| ABPA |
allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis |
| ABPI |
ankle brachial pressure index |
| ABVD |
Doxorubicin (adriamycin), bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine (first-line treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma) |
| ABX |
antibiotics |
a.c.
AC |
before a meal (from Latin ante cibum) |
| ACB |
aortocoronary bypass |
| AC&BC |
air conduction and bone conduction, as in Weber test |
| Acc |
accommodation (eye) |
| ACCU |
acute coronary care unit |
| ACD |
anemia of chronic disease |
| ACDF |
anterior cervical discectomy and fusion |
| Ace |
acetone |
| ACE |
angiotensin-converting enzyme |
| ACEI |
angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor(s) |
| ACh |
acetylcholine |
| AChE |
acetylcholine esterase |
| ACL |
anterior cruciate ligament |
| ACLS |
advanced cardiac life support |
| ACS |
acute coronary syndrome |
| ACTH |
adrenocorticotropic hormone |
| ACU |
ambulatory care unit |
| ad. |
right ear (from Latin auris dexter) |
| AD |
Alzheimer's disease
acute distress
right ear (from Latin auris dexter) |
| ADA |
adenosine deaminase |
| ADC |
AIDS dementia complex |
| ADCC |
antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity |
| ADD |
attention deficit disorder |
| ADH |
antidiuretic hormone |
| ADHD |
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder |
| ADHR |
autosomal-dominant hypophosphatemic rickets |
| ADLs |
activities of daily living |
| ad lib |
as desired (from Latin ad libitum) |
| adm |
admission |
| Adn |
adnexae (for example, adnexae of the uterus) |
| ADP |
adenosine diphosphate |
| ad part. dolent |
to the painful parts (from Latin ad partes dolentes) |
| ADR |
adverse drug reaction |
| AED |
automated external defibrillator
antiepileptic drug(s) |
| AEM |
ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring |
| AF |
atrial fibrillation
atrial flutter
amniotic fluid |
| AFB |
acid-fast bacilli |
| AFib |
atrial fibrillation |
| AFO |
ankle-foot orthosis |
| AFP |
alpha-fetoprotein |
| Ag |
antigen |
| AGA |
anti-gliadin antibodies
appropriate gestational age (see birth weight) |
| AGC |
atypical glandular cells |
| AGES criteria |
age, grade, extent, size (for tumors) |
| AGN |
acute glomerulonephritis |
| a.h. |
every other hour (from Latin alternis horis) |
| AHF |
antihemophilic factor |
| AHG |
antihemophilic globulin |
| AHH |
aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase |
| AHR |
airway hyper-reactivity |
| AI |
artificial insemination
aortic insufficiency |
| AICD |
automated implantable cardioverter-defibrillator |
| AID |
artificial insemination by donor |
| AIDS |
acquired immune deficiency syndrome |
| AIH |
artificial insemination by husband |
| AIHD |
artificial insemination by pooled husband and donor semen |
| AIPD |
acute infectious and parasitical diseases
autoimmune progesterone dermatitis
acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy |
| AIIRB |
angiotensin II receptor antagonist |
| AIN |
acute interstitial nephritis |
| AIS |
adenocarcinoma in situ |
| aka |
also known as |
| AKA |
above-knee amputation
also known as |
| ALA |
aminolevulinic acid |
| Alc |
alcohol |
| ALG |
antilymphocytic globulin |
| ALI |
acute lung injury |
| Alk phos |
alkaline phosphatase (sometimes abbreviated as ALP) |
| ALL |
acute lymphoblastic leukemia
allergies |
| ALP |
alkaline phosphatase (sometimes abbreviated as Alk phos) |
| ALPS |
autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome |
| ALS |
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
advanced life support |
| ALT |
alanine transaminase |
| altern. d. |
every other day (from Latin alterno die) |
| AMA |
advanced maternal age (35 years or greater)
against medical advice
antimitochondrial antibody
American Medical Association |
| Amb |
ambulate |
| AMC |
arthrogryposis multiplex congenita |
| AMI |
acute myocardial infarction |
| AML |
acute myeloid leukemia |
| AMP |
adenosine monophosphate |
| Amp |
ampule
ampere |
| AMPA receptor |
alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor of the brain |
| AMS |
acute mountain sickness
atypical measles syndrome |
| Amt |
amount |
| ANA |
antinuclear antibody |
| ANCA |
antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody |
| ANDI |
aberrations of normal development and involution (of breast) |
| ANF |
atrial natriuretic factor |
| ANP |
atrial natriuretic peptide |
| ANS |
autonomic nervous system |
| Ant |
anterior |
| Anti- |
refers to an antibody to the suffixed antigen |
| ANTR |
asymmetrical tonic neck reflex |
| ANUG |
acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis |
| A&O |
aware and oriented |
| A&Ox3 |
alert and oriented, times 3 (to person, place, and time) |
| A&Ox4 |
alert and oriented, times 4 (to person, place, time, and circumstances) (often used interchangeably with A&Ox3) |
| AODM |
adult-onset diabetes mellitus (now called diabetes mellitus type 2) |
| AOM |
acute otitis media |
| a.p. |
before a meal (from Latin ante prandium) |
| AP |
alkaline phosphatase
anteroposterior
angina pectoris |
| A&P |
auscultation and percussion |
| APACHE II |
Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II |
| APAP |
paracetamol (aka acetaminophen) (from its chemical name, N-acetyl-para-aminophenol)
automatic positive airway pressure |
| APC |
atrial premature contraction
antigen-presenting cell
activated protein C |
| APD |
adult polycystic disease
automated peritoneal dialysis |
| APKD |
adult polycystic kidney disease |
| APECED |
autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy |
| APGAR |
appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, respiration - used to assess newborns |
| APH |
antepartum haemorrhage |
| APLS |
antiphospholipid syndrome |
| APMPPE |
acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy |
| applic. |
applicandus (Latin meaning "to be applied") |
| APR |
abdominoperineal resection |
| APS |
autoimmune polyendocrine/polyglandular syndrome |
| APSAC |
anisoylated plasminogen streptokinase activator complex |
| aPTT |
activated partial thromboplastin time |
| aq. |
water (from Latin aqua) |
| aq. bull. |
boiling water (from Latin aqua bulliens) |
| aq. calid. |
warm or hot water (from Latin aqua calida) |
| aq. dist. |
distilled water (from Latin aqua distillata) |
| aq. gel. |
cold water (from Latin aqua gelida) |
| AR |
aortic regurgitation |
| ARB |
angiotensin II receptor antagonist |
| ARC |
AIDS-related complex |
| ARDS |
acute respiratory distress syndrome
adult respiratory distress syndrome |
| ARF |
acute renal failure |
| Arg |
arginine |
| ARM |
artificial rupture of membranes (also abbreviated as AROM) |
| AROM |
active range of motion
artificial rupture of membranes |
| ART |
antiretroviral therapy
assuming room temperature (that is, the patient has died) |
| ARVC |
arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy |
| ARVD |
arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia |
| AS |
aortic stenosis
atherosclerosis |
| ASA |
acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) |
| ASAP |
as soon as possible |
| ASC |
ambulatory surgery center |
| ASC-H |
atypical squamous cells - cannot exclude HSIL |
| ASCAD |
arteriosclerotic coronary artery disease |
| ASCUS |
atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance |
| ASCVD |
arteriosclerotic vascular disease (arteriosclerosis) |
| ASD |
atrial septal defect |
| ASGUS |
atypical squamous glandular cells of undetermined significance |
ASH
ASHD |
arteriosclerotic heart disease (coronary heart disease) |
| ASIS |
anterior superior iliac spine |
| ASO |
antistreptolysin-O |
| ASOT |
antistreptolysin-O titre |
| Ass |
assessment |
| AST |
aspartate transaminase |
| ASX |
asymptomatic |
| AT |
antithrombin
angiotensin |
| ATA |
antitransglutaminase antibodies |
| ATB |
antibiotic |
| ATCC |
American Type Culture Collection |
| ATG |
antithymic globulin |
| AT-III |
antithrombin III |
| ATN |
acute tubular necrosis |
| ATNR |
asymmetrical tonic neck reflex |
| ATP |
acute thrombocytopenic purpura
adenosine triphosphate
antitachycardia pacing |
| Atp |
atapical |
| ATRA |
all-trans retinoic acid |
| ATS |
antitetanus serum, that is, antitetanus immunoglobulins |
| AUC |
area under the curve (pharmacology) |
| aur. |
ear (from Latin auris) |
| aur. dextro. |
to right ear (from Latin auris dextrae) |
| aur. laev |
to left ear (from Latin auris laevae) |
| aurist. |
ear drops (from Latin auristillae) |
| AV |
arteriovenous
atrioventricular |
| AVM |
arteriovenous malformation |
| AVN |
avascular necrosis |
| AVR |
aortic valve replacement |
A&W
A/W |
alive and well |
| Ax |
axillary |
| AXR |
abdominal x-ray |
| AZT |
azidothymidine |
