The purpose of this text is to gather together in one volume all terms

related to obstetrics and gynecology. It is hoped that this effort will in

some measure help to unravel the difficulties in communication and

statistical reporting at the local, state, national, and international levels.

The material has been arranged so the book can be used as a teaching

manual for the three basic functions of medicine-education, research,

and application.

The selection of the preferred terms from various fields of our discipline

has been a difficult matter. We have secured the opinions of experts in

the various fields of obstetrics and gynecology. Our group of consultants

had two functions: to make sure that we had included basic current

terms and to check the accuracy of the facts in the definitions themselves.

Although an effort has been made to eliminate rarely used eponyms

as preferred terms, eponymic designations which are firmly entrenched

in medical literature have been retained, as their elimination would serve

no useful purpose.

Each section of the book is complete within itself. Terms within each

section are listed alphahetically. The format for each entry is as follows:

preferred term, definition, synonyms and eponyms, abbreviations. In the

Genetics section the mode of inheritance precedes the synonyms, eponyms,

and abbreviations.

We have incorporated an extensive index which lists all preferred

terms and terms that appear within a definition, lists all synonyms in

italics, and directs the reader to the page on which the definitions appear.