UMLS 2012AA Release Available

UMLS 2012AA Release Available

The 2012AA release of the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Knowledge Sources is available as of May 7, 2012 from the Downloads menu of the UMLS Terminology Services (UTS).

In the new UMLS Release there are:

• More than 2.7 million concepts and 10.8 million unique concept names from over 160 source vocabularies; the full Metathesaurus requires 23 GB of disk space
• Three new sources
  • US Extension to SNOMED CT (SCTUSX)
  • Quality of Life Outcomes in Neurological Disorders (LNC_NEUROQOL)
  • Outpatient Physical Therapy Improvement in Movement Assessment Log (LNC_OPTIMAL)
• One new translation
  • Norwegian translation of the Medical Subject Headings (MSHNOR)
• 38 updated English sources and 20 updated translation sources including MedlinePlus Health Topics, MeSH, MedDRA, RxNorm, and SNOMED CT (English and Spanish)
• SPECIALIST Lexicon and Lexical Tools 2012 Releases 

Data Changes

• The maximum length for the attribute name (ATN) field in the MRSAT file is now 100 characters.  The database load scripts produced by MetamorphoSys reflect this change.
• Two source name changes appear in MRSAB. Their Metathesaurus source abbreviations (SAB) remain the same.
  • National Drug Data File Plus Vocabulary (SAB=NDDF) is now FDB MedKnowledge (formerly NDDF Plus).
  • Gold Standard Alchemy (SAB=GS) is now Gold Standard Drug Database.

Clinical Care Classification

• Clinical Care Classification (CCC) is the update of the former Home Health Classification (HHC). The 2003 version of HHC remains as one of the 2012AA Metathesaurus vocabulary sources.  HHC will be removed from the Metathesaurus in 2012AB.

US Extension to SNOMED CT

• The Metathesaurus includes the March 1 version of the US Extension to SNOMED CT.

Release Information
For more information about the release, see the What's New and Updated Sources sections of the Release Documentation.  Additional release statistics are published on the UMLS Web site.

To access the UMLS Release files, you must have an active UMLS Metathesaurus License and a valid UTS account. You will be prompted for your UTS username and password when downloading the files. 

Additional information regarding the UMLS is available on the UMLS homepage. New users are encouraged to take the UMLS Basics Tutorial and to explore the new UMLS Quick Start Guide, training materials and other information on the New Users' homepage.

DVDs
As always, the production and mailing of the UMLS DVDs occur about four weeks after the release is made available for download.

To request or cancel a DVD:  Sign in to the UTS and edit your UTS profile to select or deselect the DVD option. 

Source Release Documentation
2012AA Source Release Documentation Web pages will be published following the release.