MeSH Heading

• MeSH Heading
  • The preferred term for a descriptor
  • Often a broader concept that includes narrower sub-concepts

Unique Identifier

• Unique ID
  • Seven-character alpha-numeric string uniquely identifying a descriptor
  • Always starts with the letter “D”

Tree Number

• Alpha-numeric string referring to the location of the descriptor within a hierarchy. Each heading in the tree carries a tree number that begins with the letter from the top of the tree followed by numbers. The longer the number, the more specific the concept. A MeSH descriptor record may contain more than one tree number.

• Used for drilling down in the MeSH vocabulary
  • Example
    • C02.839.040 is one of the tree numbers for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

• In the details tab, each tree number is hyperlinked to its location in the MeSH tree structures view