NOMENCLATURE PROBLEMS IN CARDIOLOGY

Tsung O. Cheng, MD, Division of Cardiology, George Washington University, 2150 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20037 (USA) Here we go again! No sooner had I finished emphasizing the importance of explaining every acronym of a clinical trial when first used in an article [1] than another paper appeared in the same issue of the journal with an unexplained acronym, ECCIS [2]. The authors cited two references [3, 4]. But the first [3] did not give an explanation either. The second [4] contained a footnote which defined ECCIS project as Epidemiology and Clinics of Silent Ischemic Heart Disease. I doubt if any of your readers could match the alphabets in the acronym with the definition that was given. Lest your readers become aggravated, as I was [5], in not knowing what ECCIS stands for, I like to refer them to my recently compiled list of acronyms in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology [6], ECCIS stands for Epidemiologia e Clinica della Cardiopatia Ischemica Silente. Therefore, not only should all acronyms be fully explained when mentioned for the first time in a publication, but the explanation should be in the native language [7], Otherwise, it would be TOTAL ABC CHAOS! [8]. References Cheng TO: Importance of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure: Implication for clinical practice. Cardiology 1996;87:267. Antoniucci D, Seccareccia F, Menotti A, Prati PL, Rovelli F, Fazzini PF: Predictive value of sequential testing in screening for silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic middle-aged men (the ECCIS Project). Cardiology 1996;87: 240-243. Fazzini PF, Prati PL, Rovelli F, Antoniucci D, Menghini F, Seccareccia F, Menotti A: Epidemiology of silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic middle-aged men (the ECCIS Project). Am J Cardiol 1993;72:1383-1388. Antoniucci D, Seccareccia F, Fazzini PF, Prati PL, Rovelli F, Menotti A: Coronary angio-graphic findings in asymptomatic men with suspected silent myocardial ischemia (the EC-CIS Project). Am J Cardiol 1994;73:960-962. Cheng TO: Acronym aggravation. Br Heart J 1994;71:107-109. Cheng TO: Acronyms of clinical trials in cardiology – 1996. J Am Coll Cardiol 1996;27: 1293-1305. Cheng TO: Acronyms of clinical trials in cardiology – 1994. Am J Cardiol 1994;74:79-94. Parmley WW: TOTAL ABC CHAOS. J Am Coll Cardiol 1996;27:1292.