Descriptions
This Editorial Guide is used for Education Purposes Only. It is used in the Authoring Courses and Certifications. It is based on the January 2026 Editorial Guide.
A concept has multiple associated descriptions.
Each description has a description type and a unique numeric description identifier.
Fully specified name (FSN) and synonym (SYN) are description types in SNOMED CT.
A preferred term (PT) is a synonym that has been marked as preferred in a particular dialect.
Every concept may have only one preferred term in a specific dialect. Two preferred terms for the same language may coexist if they belong to two distinct dialects (e.g. variant US and GB of English language).
Examples
22490002 | Bleeding of mouth (disorder)|
FSN
Bleeding of mouth (disorder)
PT
Bleeding of mouth
SYN
Bleeding in mouth
SYN - US English
Oral hemorrhage
SYN - GB English
Oral haemorrhage
SYN
Stomatorrhagia
241563001 | Computed tomography of upper limb (procedure)|
FSN
Computed tomography of upper limb (procedure)
PT
CT of upper limb
SYN
Computed tomography of upper limb
32849002 | Esophageal structure (body structure)|
FSN
Esophageal structure (body structure)
PT - US English
Esophageal structure
PT - GB English
Oesophageal structure
Disjunctives (for example, and/or) should be in lower case.
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