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Hyphen

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( - )

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A hyphen is used to join words and to separate syllables. Hyphens may be used in FSNs.  There is no space either before or after a hyphen. 

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Hyphens should follow rules of style for the dialect and language in which the descriptions are used as found in such publications as the Chicago Manual of Style, the American Medical Association’s Manual of Style, a current medical dictionary, etc.  Punctuation is to be used sparingly unless used to prevent ambiguity. 

Unless When a hyphen is used to prevent ambiguity, punctuation is to be used sparinglyjoin words or to separate syllables, there is no space either before or after the hyphen.  

For example,

• • Anti-infective agent (product)
  • Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (disorder)
  • Zellweger's-like syndrome (disorder)Tick-borne hemorrhagic fever (navigational concept)
  • Phospho-2-dehydro-3-deoxygluconate aldolase (substance)
  • Multidrug-resistant bacteria (organism)
  • Pandrug-resistant bacteria (organism)
  • Extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing bacteria (organism)

A dash may hyphen may be used to separate two phrases, to contrast values, or to show a relationship between two things.  A dash hyphen should not rarely be used in an FSN, with rare exception, because it may obscure the exact meaning of the description. The dash ; the hyphen should be replaced with words that clarify the meaning. 

A dash hyphen is also used to separate an acronym from its expanded form when no other terms are included in a description. 

For example,

• • Concept
    t 273420000 |Disability assessment schedule (assessment scale)|

     has 30549001 |Removal of suture (procedure)| has a synonym of DAS - Disability assessment scheduleROS - removal of suture
    

    Concept
    t 719977005 |Communication Activities of Daily Living (assessment scale)|

     has a synonym of CADL - Communication Activities of Daily Living

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• • 
    

Tip

When there is a need to distinguish categories from more specific subtypes with the same name, a dash followed by the word category, may be used.

For example,

Concept
t 416500007 |Malignant glioma - category (morphologic abnormality)|

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Concept
t 74532006 |Glioma, malignant (morphologic abnormality)|

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Concept
t 416500007 |Malignant glioma - category (morphologic abnormality)|

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The hyphen is represented by UTF-8 and can be entered directly by a standard keyboard.  Although the hyphen may sometimes be referred to as a dash, the EN dash and EM dash are not used in SNOMED CT.

Colon ( : )

In general, colons should not be used in fully specified names.

Exceptions

Colons are allowed in the FSNs of organisms, substances, or products where the colon is part of the name. They are also allowed in ratios and in tumor stages.

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• • FSN: Per cubic millimeter (qualifier value)
  • SYN:  /mm³

Exceptions

A forward slash may be used to represent units of measure, official enzyme names, and laboratory test results. They may also be used in and/or when part of FSNs. There should be no space either before or after the slash.

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An umlaut should only be accepted for terms that do not have equivalences in English. Synonyms without umlauts should be added to facilitate searching in English.

For example,

• • Conceptt83901003 |Sjögren's syndrome (disorder)|  and and one of its synonyms, Sjogrens syndrome

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