Medical abbreviations and acronyms (C)

This article contains a list of commonly used medical abbreviations and acronyms that start with the letter C and may be encountered in medicine and radiology (please keep in alphabetic order).

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L -M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z - misc

• C
  • carbon
  • cervical
  • caesarean (C-section)
  • celsius/centigrade
  • cytosine (DNA nucleotide)
  • coulomb (SI unit of charge)
  • cysteine
• C2H5OH: ethanol
• CA
  • calcification
  • cancer
  • carcinoma
• Ca: calcium
• CA-125: cancer antigen 125
• CA 19-9: cancer antigen 19-9
• CAA: coronary artery aneurysm
• CABG: coronary artery bypass graft
• CAC: coronary artery calcification
• CAD
  • computer-aided diagnosis
  • coronary artery disease
• CADASIL: cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy
• CAE: coronary artery ectasia
• CAG: coronary artery graft
• CAH: congenital adrenal hyperplasia
• CAIPIRINHA: controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (Siemens)
• CAP
  • chest-abdomen-pelvis
  • community-acquired pneumonia
• CAPD: continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis
• CARASIL: cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy
• CAS: carotid artery stenosis
• CASA: computer-assisted semen analysis
• CASH: chemotherapy-associated steatohepatitis
• CAT
  • computed axial tomography or computer-aided tomography
  • critically appraised topic
• CBAVD: congenital bilateral absence of vas deferens
• CBC: complete blood count
• CBD: common bile duct
• CBF: cerebral blood flow
• CBH: change in bowel habit
• CBV: cerebral blood volume
• CC
  • caudocranial or caudocraniad
  • craniocaudad or craniocaudad
  • corpus callosum
  • cubic centimetre (cm³ preferred)
  • chief complaint
  • Creative Commons
• CCA: common carotid artery
• CCC: continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexis
• CCCT: clomiphene citrate (Clomid) challenge test
• CCD: charge-coupled device
• CCF
  • carotid cavernous fistula
  • congestive cardiac failure
• CCL: corpus callosum lipoma
• CCST: certificate of completion of specialist training (UK)
• CCT: certificate of completion of training (UK)
• CCU
  • critical care unit
  • coronary care unit
• CD
  • Crohn disease
  • cystic duct
  • common duct
  • cluster of differentiation (e.g. CD4, CD8 etc)
  • clinical director
• Cd: cadmium
• cd: candela (SI unit of luminance)
• CDC: Centers for Disease Control and prevention (US federal agency)
• C.diff: Clostridium difficile
• CDS
  • carotid duplex study
  • clinical decision support
• CDT
  • Clostridium difficile toxin
  • catheter-directed therapy
• CE: contrast-enhanced
• Ce: cerium
• CEA
  • carcinoembryonic antigen
  • carotid endarterectomy
• CECT: contrast-enhanced computed tomography
• CEMR: contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance
• CEUS: contrast-enhanced ultrasound
• CF: cystic fibrosis
• CFA: common femoral artery
• CFDM: cystic fibrosis-related diabetes mellitus
• CFL: calcaneofibular ligament
• CFV: common femoral vein
• CHALICE: children’s head injury algorithm for prediction of clinically important event
• CHB: complete heart block
• CHD
  • common hepatic duct
  • coronary heart disease
  • congenital heart disease
• chem: chemistry
• CHESS: chemical shift selective pulses (all vendors)
• CHF: congestive heart failure
• CHL
  • coracoacromial ligament
  • conductive hearing loss
• CHO: carbohydrate
• CHOP: cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin (hydroxydaunomycin), Oncovin ® (vincristine), prednisolone
• Chol: cholesterol
• CI
  • confidence interval
  • contraindication
  • compound imaging
• Ci: curie (non-SI unit of radioactivity)
• CIA: common iliac artery
• CIDP: chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
• CIN
  • cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
  • contrast-induced nephropathy
• CIRSE: Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe
• CIS: clinically isolated syndrome
• CISS: constructive interference in steady state (Siemens)
• CIV: common iliac vein
• CJD: Creutzfeld-Jakob disease
• CK: creatine kinase
• CKD: chronic kidney disease
• Cl: chlorine
• CLEAR: constant level appearance
• CLIPPERS: chronic lymphocytic inflammation with pontine perivascular enhancement responsive to steroids
• cm: centimetre
• CMCJ: carpometacarpal joint
• CMF: chondromyxoid fibroma
• CMP: cardiomyopathy
• CNS: central nervous system
• CMR: complete metabolic response
• CMT: Charcot Marie Tooth disease
• CMV: cytomegalovirus
• CN: cranial nerve
• CNLD: chronic neonatal lung disease
• CNR: contrast-to-noise ratio
• CO
  • carbon monoxide
  • cardiac output
• Co: cobalt
• C/O: complaining of
• COAD: chronic obstructive airways disease
• COCP: combined oral contraceptive pill
• COH: controlled ovarian hyperstimulation
• COLD: Cowden-Lhermitte-Duclos syndrome
• COM: chronic otomastoiditis
• COP:
  • cryptogenic organising pneumonia
  • combined oral contraceptive pill
• COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Cor: coronal
• CoR: College of Radiographers (UK)
• COW: circle of Willis
• CP
  • cerebral palsy
  • cervical position
  • chest pain
  • cross-polarisation
  • caeruloplasmin
• CPA
  • cerebellopontine angle
  • costophrenic angle
• CPAP: continuous positive airway pressure
• CPB: cardiopulmonary bypass
• CPC: choroid plexus cyst
• CPFE: combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema
• CPFI: chest pain for investigation
• CPK: creatine phosphokinase
• CPR: cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• CQC: Care Quality Commission (UK)
• CR: complete response (see RECIST)
• Cr
  • creatinine
  • chromium
• CRAO: central retinal artery occlusion
• CRC: colorectal cancer or colorectal carcinoma
• CRE: carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae
• Creat: creatinine
• CREST: calcinosis, Raynaud phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, telangiectasia
• CRF
  • chronic renal failure
  • corticotropin-releasing factor
• CRIF: closed reduction internal fixation
• CRL: crown-rump length
• CRM: circumferential resection margin
• CRP: C-reactive protein
• CRPS: complex regional pain syndrome
• CRS: chronic rhinosinusitis
• CRTX: chemoradiotherapy
• CRUK: Cancer Research UK (UK charity)
• CS
  • caesarean section
  • cavernous sinus
  • coronary sinus
  • chemical shift
• Cs: caesium
• C/S: caesarean section
• cSDH: chronic subdural haemorrhage
• CSF: cerebrospinal fluid
• CS-MRI: chemical shift MRI
• CSOM: chronic serous otitis media
• CSS: Churg-Strauss syndrome
• CT: computed tomography
• CTA: computed tomography angiogram
• CTAP: computed tomography abdomen pelvis
• CTB: computed tomography brain
• CTC: computed tomography colonoscopy
• CTCA: computed tomography coronary angiogram
• CTCAP: computed tomography chest abdomen pelvis
• CTED: chronic thromboembolic disease
• CTEPH: chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension
• CTG: cardiotocography
• CTH: computed tomography head
• CTIVC: computed tomography intravenous cholangiogram
• CTIVP: computed tomography intravenous pyelogram
• CTPA: computed tomography pulmonary angiogram
• CTP: computed tomography perfusion
• CTR: cardiothoracic ratio
• CTS: carpal tunnel syndrome
• CTSI: CT severity index 
• CTU: computed tomography urogram
• CTV: computed tomography venogram
• CTX: chemotherapy
• CTZ: chemosensitive trigger zone  
• Cu: copper (Latin: cuprum)
• CUP: cancer of unknown primary (or carcinoma of unknown primary)
• CV: curriculum vitae
• CVA: cerebrovascular accident
• CVE: cerebrovascular event
• cVEMP: cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials
• CVID: common variable immune deficiency
• CVL: central venous line
• CVP: central venous pressure
• CVS
  • cardiovascular system
  • chorionic villous sampling
• CW Doppler: continuous wave Doppler
• CWP: coal workers' pneumoconiosis
• Cx
  • cervix
  • circumflex artery
  • complication
• CXR: chest x-ray
• Cys: cysteine
• CZ: central zone (prostate)
• 3C syndrome: craniocerebellocardiac syndrome