Clinical Terminology

Structure of the subterminosystem

The complex of medical terminology is traditionally divided into two major groups. The first is the terminology of the fundamental sciences (pathological anatomy and physiology). Its key task is to describe how diseases develop and to precisely designate pathological processes and bodily states.

The second major group encompasses the terminology of clinical disciplines proper. These include surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, dentistry, and many other fields. This part of the vocabulary serves to designate specialized professional concepts necessary for a physician's practical work with patients.

Basic concepts and scope

Clinical thinking and terminology are based on three main concepts describing the manifestations of illness:

• Symptoms — individual signs of a developing disease.
• Syndromes — a consistent combination of several symptoms (from the Greek word syndrome, meaning a concurrence of signs).
• Nosological entities — specific diseases distinguished as completely independent units in medical classification.

In addition to disease names, clinical terminology includes the names of surgical operations, instrumental treatment and examination methods, and medical devices. These terms are used in lectures, patient examinations, medical records, and extensively in specialized literature (textbooks and monographs).

Standardization and international classification

To ensure medical statistics are consistent worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) publishes and updates a special official document. It enables the collection of accurate data on morbidity and causes of death.

The full title of this document is the "International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems". The 10th revision (ICD-10), officially adopted by the WHO in 1995, is currently in use. The classification contains a vast body of diagnostic terminology, assigning a alphanumeric code to each disease and pathological condition.

Latin and technical terms

The use of Latin in modern clinical practice largely depends on the literature genre, traditions, and specific scientific school. Latin equivalents are very frequently used alongside Russian names of nosological entities. For example, a fracture is termed fractura, a hernia is hernia, cancer is designated as carcinoma or cancer, and typhoid fever as typhus abdominalis.

A special place is occupied by so-called technical terms (termini technici). These are fixed specialized expressions describing a patient's current status. Among the most common are status praesens (the patient's current status), status asthmaticus (severe status asthmaticus), and status typhosus (typhoid state).

Word-formation principles

Many clinical terms are constructed from standardized terminological elements (TEs)—roots, suffixes, and prefixes. Understanding their meanings makes it easy to decode the essence of a diagnosis or procedure:

1. Suffixes of states and processes:
2. -osis (pathological condition). Combined with nephr- (kidney), it forms nephrosis — nephrosis, a degenerative kidney disease.
3. -itis (inflammation). Added to pancreat- (pancreas), it yields Pancreatitis (pancreatitis).
4. -oma (tumor). The combination of angi- (vessel) and the suffix forms angioma — a vascular tumor.

1. Prefixes:
2. hypo- (below normal) in the term hypopnoë (hypopnea) denotes diminished breathing.
3. peri- (around) in the word perimysium (perimysium) describes the sheath surrounding muscle fibers.
4. a- (absence) in the word asynergia (asynergy) indicates a lack of joint action, i.e., a coordination disorder.

1. Surgical and diagnostic TEs:
2. -scopia (examination). The term hysteroscopia denotes the instrumental examination of the uterine cavity.
3. -stomia (creation of an opening or stoma). For example, the complex term cholangioenterostomia translates as the creation of an anastomosis between the intestine and the bile duct.
4. -pexia (fixation). The word colopexia denotes the surgical procedure of anchoring the colon.

Class and exam questions

What else to study on this topic

• Multiword clinical terms and rules for their translation (e.g., tuberculoma pulmonum).
• Complex terms with anatomical components (pneumarthrosis, thermoplegia).
• Etymology of blood and hemostasis terms (haemangioma, haemostasis).
• Features of using Latin equivalents in medical histories.

Other topics in the section "Fundamentals of medical terminology"

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