no evidence of acute rejection on serial biopsy

[GoodTaste]

Pig Kidney Xenotransplantation
R.A. Montgomery and Others
Genetically modified pig kidney xenografts were transplanted into two brain-dead human recipients. The xenografts functioned immediately and showed no evidence of acute rejection on serial biopsy over a period of 54 hours. The serum creatinine level decreased in both recipients.

Source: The New England Journal of Medicine



It seems to me that the "serial biopsy" should have been "serial biopsies". Am I on the right track?

 

[tedmc]

Apparently, the singular form is accepted in medical language. It is repeat biopsy on the same organ at short intervals on a patient.

 

[5jj]

Am I on the right track?

You're overusing this expression. It's not appropriate when the choice is simply between being right or not.

 

[jutfrank]

The word biopsy is being used uncountably here, referring to the procedure rather than to any particular instance of the procedure.

 

[Tdol]

It seems to me that the "serial biopsy" should have been "serial biopsies". Am I on the right track?

Apparently, not to doctors. Many non-medical people would go for the plural, but we;d be thinking about individual tests rather than a process.