Representation of the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Minimal Standard Terminology in the SNOMED DICOM microglossary.

In Gastroenterology, endoscopic images and interpretation reports are essential elements of the patient record. The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Visible Light and Structured Reporting Standards provide a standard representation of images and reports. However, the message standards are not sufficient in themselves. Controlled terminology is needed to enable interchange of patient records and to facilitate the pooling of multi-center data for large-scale outcomes studies and clinical research. The ASGE has joined with European and Japanese colleagues to develop and publish a lexicon of endoscopic terminology. The lexicon is being tested now in a multi-center trial. In addition, the ASGE is collaborating with the DICOM Standards Committee to transform the endoscopic lexicon into a database structure that is suitable for use with the DICOM Visible Light and Structured Reporting Standards. The combination of an internationally accepted, tested and non-proprietary lexical standard and a DICOM message standard supporting endoscopic images and reports represents a powerful tool for clinicians to improve communication, research and the quality of care.