| Abbrev.
| Meaning |
| ā
| (a with a bar over it) before (from Latin ante) artery |
| A
| adenosine apical |
| a.a.
| of each (from Latin ana ana) amino acids: |
| AAA
| abdominal aortic aneurysm (pronounced "triple-A") |
| 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 |
| 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 anti-epileptic 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) |
| 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 |
| 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 anti-mitochondrial 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
| anti-nuclear antibody |
| ANCA
| anti-neutrophil 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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
| anti-transglutaminase 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 anti-tachycardia pacing |
| Atp
| Atapical |
| ATRA
| all-trans retinoic acid |
| ATS
| Anti-tetanus serum, that is, anti-tetanus 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 |
| AVR
| aortic valve replacement |
| A&W A/W
| alive and well |
| Ax
| axillary |
| AXR
| abdominal x-ray |
| AZT
| azidothymidine |
