ubMed's Automatic Term Mapping feature includes the MeSH Translation Table which gives PubMed the ability to enhance searches with MeSH terms. We recently improved this table with additional British spellings of terms. PubMed can now recognize MeSH concepts when either the British or American spelling is used for MeSH or Entry Terms.

Example: The British spelling:
        tooth discolouration

is recognized as the MeSH descriptor:
        Tooth Discoloration

A Step Further
Normally, an unqualified search of a MeSH concept is translated by PubMed to a search for the MeSH term ORed with the searcher's entry qualified (tagged) as a Text Word:
If you enter         cyst
PubMed searches:
                 "cysts"[MeSH Terms] OR cyst[Text Word]

For terms with British and American spellings, the Text Word search will include both the British and the American spelling of the word:

If you enter either oesophageal cyst or esophageal cyst, PubMed searches:
                "esophageal cyst"[MeSH Terms] OR esophageal
                cyst[Text Word] OR oesophageal cyst[Text Word]

This means searches will retrieve the same citations regardless of whether the American or British spelling is used.

If you are aware of British spellings that do not map to the appropriate MeSH heading please let us know by sending an e-mail to: custserv@nlm.nih.gov.

By Annette Nahin
MEDLARS Management Section

Nahin A. PubMed's MeSH Mapping Feature to Include More British Spellings. NLM Tech Bull. 2003 Mar-Apr;(331):e7.