Dilation vs dilatation

Last revised by Daniel J Bell on 17 Oct 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Bell D, Gaillard F, Dilation vs dilatation. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 18 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-154672

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-154672

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/154672

rID:

154672

Article created:

17 Oct 2022, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Daniel J Bell had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Last revised:

17 Oct 2022, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Revisions:

2 times, by 2 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Sections:

Approach

Tags:

reference needed

Synonyms:

Dilatation vs dilation
Dilatation or dilation
Dilatation versus dilation
Dilation versus dilatation

Dilation and dilatation are commonly used in radiology, and medicine more generally. Both terms refer to the expansion of a 'hollow' anatomical or pathological structure, including vessels, cardiac chambers, cerebral ventricles, urinary tract, cysts, and also prostheses, e.g. stents and angioplasty balloons.

The expansion may be pathological, e.g. an aneurysm, but at times is intentional, for example, iatrogenic enlargement of a stenosed segment of the bowel.

Although many clinicians use the words interchangeably, some contend that the two words are distinct and should be used in different contexts.

Dilation should be used for situations in which there has been an active process by which a structure is enlarged, e.g. dilation of pupils by an ophthalmologist.

Dilatation when the stretching has occurred pathologically, e.g. dilatation of the bowel proximal to an obstruction.

This is however inconsistent and the reality is that standard medical dictionaries explicitly state that the two terms are synonymous with no distinction in their meaning. Moreover, there is only one verb form "to dilate", there is no word "to dilatate" ¹.

From the point of view of Radiopaedia, we are happy with either form to be used either way.