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Letter to the Editor, September 2009

Dear Editor,

First, I wish to congratulate you and your team for a superb magazine. I much enjoy the reading and find the articles of high quality.

I am surprised, however, by seeing in this Canadian publication frequent use of non-SI units. For example, in a recent publication (July 2009), the serum-ascites albumin gradient is reported in g/dl, while I would expect the units to be in g/L; the serum creatinine is reported in mg/dl, while in Canada we are familiar with µmol/L. As you know, the conversion from one unit to the other is not always an easy calculation. I recommend universal use of SI units in documents, for easier knowledge translation and adaptation to clinical practice. If needed, the other unit values could be put in parentheses.

Thanks again for the great publication.

Céline Léger-Nolet, FRCPC
New Liskeard, ON

Editor’s Reply

Dear Dr. Léger-Nolet,

Thank you for your kind words about our journal. We agree that SI units are the preferred unit of measurement, and we will do our best to ensure that they are the standard in our future issues.

Sincerely,

Barry Goldlist, MD, FRCPC, FACP, AGSF
Editor-in-Chief