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Findings vs Impression: How to Read Your Radiology Report
Read findings and impression together, follow a fictional example, and prepare questions about what your radiology report does and does not say.
The findings describe what the radiologist saw on your scan. The impression brings the main observations together and explains what the radiologist thinks they mean. A radiologist is a doctor trained to interpret medical images.
These headings appear in reports from different imaging tests. The format can vary between providers. This guide concerns the written report, rather than the scan pictures.
What is the difference?
Findings | Impression |
|---|---|
Gives more detail about the areas examined. | Summarizes and interprets the main observations. |
May describe something as normal, abnormal or uncertain. | May suggest possible explanations or recommend a next step. |
Helps you find the detail behind the summary. | Helps you identify the main message to discuss with your clinician. |
The impression can be a useful starting point, but it does not replace the rest of the report. Read the findings for detail and look for any recommendations. RadiologyInfo explains the usual sections of a radiology report.
A fictional example, read together
These short excerpts were written for this guide. They are not a real patient's report or a complete scan report.
Findings
A small amount of fluid is present in the right pleural space. No pleural fluid is seen on the left.
Impression
Small right pleural effusion.
“Pleural effusion” means extra fluid in the space around a lung. Here, it is described as small and on the right. The findings also say that no fluid was seen on the left. The shorter impression describes the same observation. MedlinePlus explains pleural effusion.
The words small, right and no carry meaning. Keep them when you write down a question about the report. The excerpt does not state why the fluid is there or what care is needed.
Why isn't everything repeated in the impression?
The impression selects the observations most useful for the clinician's decisions. It need not repeat every detail from the findings. A difference in length is not, by itself, a contradiction. Memorial Sloan Kettering explains why the two sections can contain different amounts of detail.
Do not treat an omission as proof that a finding is harmless. If a detail concerns you, bring both sections to your care team. You can ask: “This appears in the findings but not the impression. Does it affect my care?”
If the sections seem to say different things, ask your clinician to clarify the wording. You do not need to decide which sentence is correct on your own.
What if the wording is uncertain?
An indeterminate finding cannot be diagnosed from the images alone. Nonspecific means a finding can occur in different conditions. Neither word gives you a diagnosis by itself. These meanings are explained in Memorial Sloan Kettering's guide to radiology results.
Your clinician may need other information or another test to explain a finding. Ask what is still uncertain and what any further test is intended to clarify. RadiologyInfo suggests discussing these next steps with the clinician who ordered your scan.
Questions to take to your appointment
Your clinician can interpret the report alongside your medical history and the reason for the scan. Write down the exact sentence you want explained, then choose the questions that fit:
Which finding answers the reason for my scan?
Is anything still uncertain?
Does a finding that is not repeated in the impression need attention?
Is follow-up recommended? If so, when should it happen, and who will arrange it?
If several parts of your report are hard to follow, see BaluMed's fictional example of a whole report explained in plain English.
Editorial responsibility: BaluMed.