Language of the radiology report: Primer for residents and wayward radiologists

In 1922, a classic article by Hickey [36] in the American Journal of Roentgenology concluded that 'the ARRS should recommend a standardized nomenclature to be used in writing roentgenological reports.' Only one such standard has been developed: the ACR BI-RADS [8]. It includes an imaging lexicon, report organization, conclusions, and recommendations. These guidelines have almost entirely replaced the previous haphazard reporting of mammograms in the United States. Kudos are particularly forthcoming from our clinical colleagues, some of whom participated in the collaborative development process. Similar guidelines are under development by the ACR Expert Working Panel on Breast Ultrasound. Guidelines for general radiology reporting would be developed by consensus, be subject to change, not be mandated, and have few of the medicolegal implications of the ACR standard for communication [34, 37, 38]. The logical umbrella organization to develop such a project would be the ACR, which was instrumental in developing both BI-RADS [8] and the ACR standard for communication [3]. A collaborative group of the ACR and the Association of Program Directors in Radiology is currently developing noninterpretive skills curricula in residency training programs [39-41]; this would be the logical group to develop guidelines for general radiology reporting.