Radiology Reporting: Changes Worth Making Are Never Easy (Report‪)‬

Reflecting on how radiology has changed since the late 1800s is a daunting task because so many aspects are different. We can reflect on the improvement of film radiographs, digitalization and the advent of computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), molecular imaging and picture archiving and communications systems (PACS). The list goes on and on. Instead, it would be far easier to list what has not changed and surprisingly, leading the list is the structure of our radiology reports. (1) Granted, we're no longer scribbling our notes on paper cards by hand or sketching the images into a report like an exotic charcoal artist (for more on that comparison, see Dr. Weiss' excellent editorial on the "art of radiology reporting" on page 6 of this issue). The general format of our prose reports is unchanged. We comment on the technique, describe our findings as we would speak them, list some limitations and give a summary impression. The structure and format varies from individual to individual, group to group and study by study. But, if it works, why must everything change?