SNOMED CT（Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine,Clinical Terms,系统化临床医学术语集）依据特定的原则,进行了现代临床医学相关术语的分类设定,建立起19个具有内在关联关系的层级体系（Hierarchies）。发布5年来,SNOMED CT已得到了30余个国家和地区的引进,广泛应用于现代医学临床科研的重要领域,说明该术语集具有充分的合理性和实用性,进行术语分类的原则符合现代西医学的自身规律。本文在回顾SNOMED术语顶级分类几次重大调整的基础上,以剖析SNOMED CT顶级分类层级之间的相互关系为切入点,提出现代西医学本体论是SNOMED CT进行术语分类框架体系设定的理论依据。

SNOMED CT, or Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine, Clinical Terms,makes Western medical terms into 19 hierarchies, using a special classification methodology. The widespread and successful application of SNOMED CT in some 30 countries/regions has confirmed the fact that SNOMED CT is a rational and feasible nomenclature, and its classification methodology is compatible with Western medicine g intrinsical rules. Authors believe that the ontology of modern Western medicine is the theoretical foundation of SNOMED CT classification,through reviewing the strict regulations of SNOMED CT top-level hierarchies in the past decades,and the mutual relationships between top-level hierarchies of SNOMED CT.

北京市科委重大计划项目(H020920010130):中医药防治重大疾病临床个体诊疗评价体系研究，负责人：刘保延。