ISO+ to UCUM Mapping Table

Several years ago I was the editor of the HL7 Claims attachments specifications.  As a result of that effort, I created a mapping table from ISO+ Units to UCUM units.  ISO+ units are commonly used in HL7 Version 2 lab messages, while UCUM is a newer standard developed by the Regenstrief Institute that is required for use in CDA Release 2 and in other HL7 Version 3 standards, and was selected by ANSI/HITSP for the communication of unit information.  A much shorter list was eventually used in the claims attachment guides, but I ran across the data I generated the other day and thought I would share it here.

Please note the disclaimer:  I am not an expert on ISO+, UCUM or laboratory units in general.  Therefore, you should validate this data before using it in any clinical applications.

ISO+ Units needing a Mapping

ISO+	UCUM	ISO+	UCUM	ISO+	UCUM	ISO+	UCUM
(arb_u)	[arb'U]	10.un.s/(cm5.m2)	dyn.s/(cm5.m2)	iu/mL	[iU]/mL	mL/hr	mL/h
(bdsk_u)	[bdsk'U]	10.un.s/cm5	dyn.s/cm5	k/watt	K/W	mm(hg)	mm[Hg]
(bsa)	{bsa}	cm_h20	cm[H20]	kg(body_wt)	kg{body_wt}	mm/hr	mm/h
(cal)	cal	cm_h20.s/L	cm[H20].s/L	kg/ms	kg/m2	mmol/(8.hr.kg)	mmol/(8.h.kg)
(cfu)	{cfu}	cm_h20/(s.m)	cm[H20]/(s.m)	kh/h	kg/h	mmol/(8hr)	mmol/(8.h)
(drop)	[drp]	dba	dB[SPL]	L/(8.hr)	L/(8.h)	mmol/(kg.hr)	mmol/(kg.h)
(ka_u)	[ka'U]	dm2/s2	REM	L/hr	L/h	mmol/hr	mmol/h
(kcal)	kcal	g(creat)	g{creat}	lb	[lb_av]	ng/(8.hr)	ng/(8.h)
(kcal)/(8.hr)	kcal/(8.h)	g(hgb)	g{hgb}			ng/(8.hr.kg)	ng/(8.h.kg)
(kcal)/d	kcal/d	g(tot_nit)	g{tit_nit}	m/s	ms/s	ng/(kg.hr)	ng/(kg.h)
(kcal)/hr	kcal/h	g(tot_prot)	g{tot_prot}	mas	Ms	ng/hr	ng/h
(knk_u)	[knk'U]	g(wet_tis)	g{wet_tis}	meq/(8.hr)	meq/(8.h)	osmol	osm
(mclg_u)	[mclg'U]	g.m/((hb).m2)	g.m/{hb}m2	meq/(8.hr.kg)	meq/(8.h.kg)	osmol/kg	osm/kg
(od)	{od}	g.m/(hb)	g.m/{hb}	meq/(kg.hr)	meq/(kg.h)	osmol/L	osm/L
(ph)	pH	g/(8.hr)	g/(8.h)	meq/hr	meq/h	pa	pA
(ppb)	[ppb]	g/(8.kg.hr)	g/(8.kg.h)	mg/(8.hr)	mg/(8.h)	pal	Pa
(ppm)	[ppm]	g/(kg.hr)	g/(kg.h)	mg/(8.hr.kg)	mg/(8.h.kg)	sec	''
(ppt)	[pptr]	g/hr	g/h	mg/(kg.hr)	mg/(kg.h)	sie	S
(ppth)	[ppth]	in	[in_us]	mg/hr	mg/h	ug(8hr)	ug(8.h)
(th_u)	[todd'U]	in_hg	[in_i'Hg]	miu/mL	m[iU]/mL	ug/(8.hr.kg)	ug/(8.h.kg)
/(arb_u)	/[arb'U]	iu	[iU]	mL/((hb).m2)	mL/{hb}.m2	ug/(kg.hr)	ug/(kg.h)
/(hpf)	[HPF]	iu/d	[iU]/d	mL/(8.hr)	mL/(8.h)	ug/hr	ug/h
/(tot)	/{tot}	iu/hr	[iU]/h	mL/(8.hr.kg)	mL/(8.h.kg)	uiu	u[iU]
/iu	/[iU]	iu/kg	[iU]/kg	mL/(hb)	mL/{hb}
10*3(rbc)	10*3{rbc}	iu/L	[iU]/L	mL/(kg.hr)	mL/(kg.h)
10.L	10.L/(min.m2)	iu/min	[iU]/min	mL/cm_h20	mL/cm[H20]

Units that are the same in ISO+ and UCUM
%	bar	g/L	L.s	mg	mmol/(kg.d)	ng/L	ueq
/kg	Bq	g/m2	L/(min.m2)	mg/(kg.d)	mmol/(kg.min)	ng/m2	ug
/L	cel	g/min	L/d	mg/(kg.min)	mmol/kg	ng/min	ug/(kg.d)
/m3	Cm	Gy	L/kg	mg/d	mmol/L	ng/mL	ug/(kg.min)
/min	cm2/s	h	L/min	mg/dL	mmol/m2	ng/s	ug/d
/m3	d	hL	L/s	mg/kg	mmol/min	nkat	ug/dL
/min	dB	J/L	lm	mg/L	mol/(kg.s)	nm	ug/g
/mL	deg	kat	m	mg/m2	mol/kg	nmol/s	ug/kg
1/mL	eq	kat/kg	m/s2	mg/m3	mol/L	ns	ug/L
10*12/L	eV	kat/L	m2	mg/min	mol/m3	Ohm	ug/m2
10*3/L		kg	m2/s	mL	mol/s	Ohm.m	ug/min
10*3/mL	fg	kg.m/s	m3/s	mL/(kg.d)	mosm/L	pg	ukat
10*3/mm3	fL	kg/(s.m2)	mbar	mL/(kg.min)	ms	pg/L	um
10*6/L	fmol	kg/L	mbar.s/L	mL/(min.m2)	mV	pg/mL	umol
10*6/mL	g	kg/m3	meq	mL/d		pkat	umol/d
10*6/mm3	g.m	kg/min	meq/(kg.d)	mL/kg		pm	umol/L
10*9/L	g/(kg.d)	kg/mol	meq/(kg.min)	mL/m2	ng	pmol	umol/min
10*9/mL	g/(kg.min)	kg/s	meq/d	mL/mbar	ng/(kg.d)	ps	us
10*9/mm3	g/d	kPa	meq/kg	mL/min	ng/(kg.min)	pt	uV
10.L/min	g/dL	ks	meq/L	mL/s	ng/d	Sv	V
a/m	g/kg	L	meq/min	mm	ng/kg	t	Wb

If you have corrections or comments, please post a response below.  I will make every attempt to keep these tables up to date and accurate.

Updated November 19, 2009:
Deleted mapping from ISO+ mm to UCUM to (transformation error)
Corrected mapping from ISO+ sec to UCUM '' (was ')
Updated October 20, 2010
Corrected mm(hg) to mm[Hg]
Changed oms/kg to osm/kg
verified mapping for mas (Megasecond according to HL7 V2) to Ms
deleted mapping from lm/m2 to lm
Still trying to resolve issues around (hb)
verified dm2/s2 = REM
Updated October 23, 2020
Fixed a number of problems with capitalization: Changed wb to Wb, v to V, uv to uV, sv to Sv, pAmp to pA, ohm to Ohm, mv to mV, kpa to kPa, gy to Gy, cel to Cel, bq to Bq and 8h to 8.h
Removed f, n because while these prefixes are the same, they aren't units by themselves
Removed n.s because the proper form is ns