Which sentence uses proper capitalization?

Which sentence uses proper capitalization?

• A. The patient is scheduled for a CPAP trial.
• B. The patient is scheduled for a cpap trial.
• C. The Patient is scheduled for a CPAP trial.
• D. The patient is scheduled for a CPAP trial.

Answer: (D)

Capitalization in medical writing follows a simple rule: acronyms stay in uppercase, the first word of a sentence is capitalized, and common nouns remain lowercase unless they’re at the start of the sentence. The sentence that is written as “The patient is scheduled for a CPAP trial.” demonstrates this correctly. CPAP is an acronym for continuous positive airway pressure, so it should be written as CPAP, not cpap. The word patient is a common noun and should be lowercase in the middle of the sentence, while the sentence begins with The capitalized as the first word and ends with a period. The other options err by using cpap in lowercase or by capitalizing Patient in the middle of the sentence, which breaks standard sentence-case rules.

Capitalization in medical writing follows a simple rule: acronyms stay in uppercase, the first word of a sentence is capitalized, and common nouns remain lowercase unless they’re at the start of the sentence. The sentence that is written as “The patient is scheduled for a CPAP trial.” demonstrates this correctly. CPAP is an acronym for continuous positive airway pressure, so it should be written as CPAP, not cpap. The word patient is a common noun and should be lowercase in the middle of the sentence, while the sentence begins with The capitalized as the first word and ends with a period. The other options err by using cpap in lowercase or by capitalizing Patient in the middle of the sentence, which breaks standard sentence-case rules.