SNOMED-CT Spanish data

[Alejandro Mauro]

Hi All,

I am writing from Chile. I came across Snofyre by reading a post in
SNOMED-CT LinkedIn group. I would like to know if it is possible to
import the Spanish version of SNOMED-CT and use it. I didn't download
Snofyre by now, but I have seen that is based on MySQL, so, I may be
able to import Spanish Tables instead of the English ones. The problem
I have is that I have Spanish tables (CONCEPTS, DESCRIPTIONS,
RELATIONSHIPS), but in 3 different tables (not in a single sql file).
I would like to know if it is possible to use Snofyre with the Spanish
tables, as I am very excited in writing queries en Snofyre to get
different nested concepts.

Regards,

Alejandro Mauro
Chief Medical Information Officer
Megasalud, Chile

[Jay Kola]

Hi Alejandro,

Its good to hear that you are excited about using Snofyre... :)

Yes it should be possible to use Snofyre with the Spanish version of SNOMED CT. In fact, all you would need to do is to replace the existing descriptions table with the corresponding spanish version. The rest of the files are language neutral... :)

So here is a breakdown of what will work and what wont work:

1. Query building:

--- Search by Spanish terms wont work (see below) --- WONT WORK

--- Creating post-coordinated expressions using Spanish terms -- WILL WORK

--- Rendering of human readable post-coordinated expressions + queries -- PARTIAL

2. Query Execution:

-- All query functionality (pre and post-coordinated) -- WILL WORK

3. Query Result Visualisation:

-- Viewing query results (with corresponding Spanish terms) -- WILL WORK

The query functionality (nested concepts) should all work in theory. However, the query building interface uses a Lucene index, which is decoupled from the Descriptions in the database... so when you search as part of building query you'll still see en-GB terms. This should not interfere at all with the rest of the functionality. 

Unfortunately, I do not have access to the Spanish version of SNOMED CT, so I can't do much about the query building interface. But the follow steps should help you replace existing descriptions with Spanish descriptions to enable the rest of the functionality...

1. Connect to the 'snomed' database using MySQL Workbench.

2. Backup the existing 'TERM' table which corresponds to the 'DESCRIPTIONS' file.

-- CREATE TABLE TERM_BACKUP LIKE TERM;

-- INSERT INTO TERM_BACKUP (SELECT * FROM TERM_BACKUP);

3. Replace contents of 'TERM' table with contents of 'Descriptions' file...

-- DELETE FROM TERM;

-- LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE (path to descriptions file here) (column names here);

4. Generate some new data using an existing or new query...

5. Execute the query to view results in Spanish terms!

Hope this helps... 

Cheers,

Jay

[Alejandro Mauro]

Thanks Jay for replying,

I have registered in TRUD to get Snofyre files. I would like to know if it is possible to use Apache XAMPP server with MySQL instead of installing MySQL Workbench and Essentials?

I am quite excited in testing queries in Snofyre.

SNOMED Spanish version can be downloaded from UMLS Terminology Services https://uts.nlm.nih.gov/home.html 

If you are interested in developing a Snofyre Spanish version, I can help you in translating all the docs needed.

Regards,

--

Alejandro Mauro

[Jay Kola]

Hi Alejendro,

Technically XAMPP is overkill cos it contains MySQL and other components... but if you already have XAMPP up and running, then it should work just fine.

I appreciate the offer to translate Snofyre documents into Spanish. As for working on a spanish version of Snofyre, I'd really love to improve Snofyre, but I also have a full time job that does not directly relate to Snofyre... :)

I remember a presentation on the SNOMED CT implementation at Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires... Were you involved in this work because your name rings a bell. For the record, among other things, I am also co-chair of the Implementation Special Interest Group at IHTSDO.

Cheers,

Jay

[Alejandro Mauro]

Jay,

I finished my residency in Medical Informatics at Hospital Italiano in 2009, and I am working as Chief Medical Information Officer in the largest Ambulatory network in Chile. I am also the Chilean Association of Health Informatics' Secretary, and I have finished the first online training in SNOMED-CT to Chilean students recently... I have found Snofyre a great way to train students in SNOMED-CT logic (better than the ACCESS I am using right now).

I will try XAMPP to use with Snofyre (I'm still waiting the TRUD confirmation to download it!).

Best

--

Alejandro Mauro

[Jay Kola]

Hi Alejandro,

Sounds like you'll be helping the next generation of health informaticians in Chile understand SNOMED CT... :) 

Education was one of the primary reasons why we made Snofyre open source. The other is supporting SNOMED CT implementers. If you feel there are ways in which Snofyre can be improved, please share your ideas/comments with us.

Cheers,

Jay