Scope of Revision of the 2026 Winter Edition

 

The major focus of the 2026 Winter Edition was the evaluation of the 2026 MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) vocabulary for inclusion in the Classification Index. Several additions and changes were made to the Index and Schedules based on this review. All main index headings are now linked to the 2026 vocabulary in the MeSH Browser. Additional minor updates were made to the Index and Schedules.

Summary Statistics for the NLM Classification 2026 Winter Edition

• 11 New Class Numbers
• 8 Modified Class Numbers
• 3 Modified Range Headers
• 27 New Index Headings – (21 from 2026 MeSH)
• 6 Modified Index Headings

Examples of Additions and Changes Based on MeSH 2026

New 2026 Headings Added to Index by Tree (and related maintenance)

Of the 160 new 2026 MeSH descriptors, only 21 were added to the NLM Classification index.  Below is the list of 2026 index terms added by MeSH tree category, in addition to other relevant classification maintenance done:

       Diseases [C]

              Non-Melanoma Skin Neoplasms

              Omphalocele

              Vestibular Migraine

       Chemicals and Drugs [D]

               Personal Care Products (Updated the range at WA 730 and the caption at WA 744)

               Royal Jelly

               Semaglutide

       Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques, and Equipment [E]

              Reiki

       Therapeutics [E]

               Cognitive Enhancement

               Magnetic Particle Imaging

               Microneedle Drug Delivery

               Surrogacy (Created new number WQ 208.6)

       Phenomena and Processes [G]

               Immunoediting, Cancer (Created new number QZ 215)

               Neurodevelopment

               Sex Differences

               Thermal Comfort (Added to the caption at QT 165)

               Transcriptome (Created new number QU 475.5)

       Disciplines and Occupations [H]

              Glycobiology 

              Reverse Vaccinology

       Named Groups [M]

              Nursing Home Residents     

              Respiratory Therapists                                               

       Population Characteristics [N]

               Vascular Health (Created new number WG 504)

 

Main Index Headings Changes Based on MeSH 2026

Of the 42 MeSH descriptors that were changed for 2026, only 11 affected the NLM Classification.

2025 MeSH	2026 MeSH
Carcinoma, Basal Cell	Basal Cell Carcinoma
Congress	Conference Proceedings
Conscious Sedation	Procedural Sedation
Consensus Development Conference	Consensus Statement
Consensus Development Conferences as Topic	Consensus Statements as Topic
Depressive Disorder, Major	Major Depressive Disorder
Dietary Patterns	(Deleted) use Diet
Pain, Intractable	Intractable Pain
Pain, Postoperative	Postoperative Pain
Receptors, Kainic Acid	Kainic Acid Receptors
Surgical Procedures, Colorectal	Colorectal Surgical Procedures