Example: “Adjacent to the right thyroid gland in the cervical lymph node chain there is an elongated lymph node, measuring 3.5 x 1.3 x 0.7 cm.”

There is only 1 thyroid gland. There is no right thyroid gland or left thyroid gland. It’s not like right and left kidneys. There are right and left lobes of the thyroid gland. There is no reason to say anything other than “lobe”. It’s more accurate and shorter than “gland”.

A lymph node “adjacent to the right thyroid gland” will only be in the cervical lymph node chain. As such, the words “in the cervical lymph node chain” don’t impart any useful information.

The word “elongated” is subjective and ambiguous. Does it mean the node is abnormal? Giving  three-dimensions allows the reader to understand the node’s configuration. (Obviously some additional comments regarding morphology such as “echogenic hilum” would be needed for complete description.)

Example: “Adjacent  to the right thyroid gland in the cervical
lymph node chain there is an elongated lymph node, measuring 3.5 x 1.3 x
0.7 cm.”

Possible rewrite: “3.5 x 1.3 x 0.7 cm lymph node adjacent to the right thyroid lobe.”

The proposed edit takes the sentence from a Flesch-Kincaid 12.5 grade level down to 7.5, and improves the readability score from 49.4 to 65.7.

“The bony calvaria is intact.”

example: “There is no shift of the midline structures.”

rewritten: “No midline shift.”

The example sentence is not long or confusing, but the edited version expresses 100% of the thought with fewer than 40% of the words. This type of editing turns muli-page reports into a single page with no information loss.

“IMPRESSION: Expected postsurgical change of the distal fibula and medial malleolus ORIF without significant interval change when compared to the prior study dated 07/23/13.”

The word “interval” is redundant and should be omitted. The time interval is defined by the current and comparison exam dates and doesn’t need to be referenced by name.

“…when compared to the prior study dated 07/23/13” is unnecessarily verbose. Writing “…since the 07/23/13 exam” gives the same information 3 reading-levels less.

The word “exam” is implicit in the comparison date and can be omitted. The phrase could be shortened to just the date “…since 07/23/13.”

Rewritten example:

“IMPRESSION: Expected postsurgical appearance of distal fibula and medial malleolus ORIF not significantly changed since 07/23/13.”