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| 1 | +# MIMIC-IV itemid → LOINC mapping |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +There is **no official, complete MIMIC-IV `itemid` → LOINC map** in this |
| 4 | +repository or on PhysioNet as a maintained product. |
| 5 | + |
| 6 | +See [issue #1972](https://github.com/MIT-LCP/mimic-code/issues/1972). |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +## What exists today |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +| Path | Scope | Caveat | |
| 11 | +|------|-------|--------| |
| 12 | +| `d_items` / `d_labitems` labels | MIMIC-IV dictionaries | Human-readable names, not LOINC | |
| 13 | +| MIMIC-III `conceptid` / community maps | Older releases | Incomplete; IV itemids are a different namespace | |
| 14 | +| OMOP / Athena / manual review | External | Best for modeling when you need LOINC semantics | |
| 15 | +| PhysioNet forum threads | Community | Useful pointers; not version-guaranteed | |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +A multi-hop IV → III → LOINC conversion is **error-prone**: itemids were |
| 18 | +reassigned across CareVue / MetaVision / IV, and LOINC bindings in older |
| 19 | +helpers were never exhaustive. |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +## Recommended practice for predictive modeling |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +1. Prefer **MIMIC-IV `itemid`** (and `d_labitems.label` / `fluid` / `category`) |
| 24 | + as the primary feature key inside a single MIMIC version. |
| 25 | +2. If LOINC is required for multi-site harmonization, build an explicit map |
| 26 | + for the **subset of itemids you use**, with manual clinician/terminology |
| 27 | + review — do not treat a scraped IV→III→LOINC chain as ground truth. |
| 28 | +3. Record the MIMIC version, map provenance, and unmapped rate in the paper |
| 29 | + or model card. |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +## What this repository will not add as “official” |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +A full LOINC crosswalk would need ongoing clinical terminology maintenance |
| 34 | +outside the CSV loaders. Until PhysioNet publishes one, please treat any |
| 35 | +community CSV as **unofficial**. |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +## Related |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +- Lab value / unit quirks: `mimic-iv/buildmimic/TABLE_NOTES.md` (when present) |
| 40 | +- Qualitative labs (`NEG`/`POS`): same notes / issue #1938 |
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