Intended for healthcare professionals

Fillers

ALIAS (a landing in an alphabet soup)

BMJ 2005; 331 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7524.1071 (Published 03 November 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:1071
  1. Kishore Shah, head of obstetrics and gynaecology (kshahsky{at}gmail.com)
  1. Matru Seva Hospital, Pune, India

    All medical specialties use short forms and acronyms, and I had thought O&G (obstetrics and gynaecology) must be one of the top contenders. However, a conference on HIV management really opened my eyes.

    No drug used in the management of HIV does not have a short form of its own. Almost all the best combinations have now been used up, like web addresses, and the newer discoveries will have to make do with numbers or symbols.

    Initially, it seemed a piece of cake: abacavir is called ABC, atazanavir is called ATV, and indinavir is called IDV. No problems. But then matters took a turn for the worse with zidovudine being called AZT. I can understand the Z, but what are A and T doing there? Next I was faced with didanosine and tenofovir. If I were asked to devise their acronyms, I would have said DDN and TNF. However, no one had asked me but had apparently consulted somebody with a massive word ataxia, with the result that didanosine is called ddl and tenofovir is TDF. Even better, the drug ritonavir is simply known as/r (yes, it starts with an oblique sign).

    We seemed to be returning to sanity when we were told SQV meant saquinavir, but then we learnt that SQV also meant Fortovase, which is also known as FTV. Just as I was recovering from that blow, I was given a knockout punch—SQV and FTV can both stand for SGC. This must be a world first—a short form for an acronym.

    After that, matters grew more surreal. Can you guess what ddC and d4T could mean? Well, ddC means zalcitabine (I knew you would guess that one), and d4T means stavudine. Don't ask me where that 4 comes from or what that weird capitalisation is all about. For that matter, do not even think about how FTC can mean emtricitabine or 3TC can mean lamivudine.

    At the end of the conference, feeling dazed and confused, I was surrounded by a dozen upstarts, who started discussing all those alphabets knowingly. Reeling from this onslaught, I retaliated with a devastating riposte: “You say you must use ABC or XYZ if the CD4 count comes down. Let me ask you a simple question. What is the full form of CD, as in CD4 and CD8, and just how many of these CDs are there?”

    I proudly tilted my nose upwards and walked out triumphantly.