What does “Grossly normal” mean on a radiology report?
Normal as far as this scan can show at the level of detail it provides.
Why the radiologist wrote it that way
"Gross" here is the old medical sense of "broad" or "overall" — visible at a large scale — and has nothing to do with the everyday meaning. The radiologist is saying the overall structure looks right, while acknowledging that a scan has a resolution limit and cannot comment below it.
Is this good or bad news?
A normal finding, with a built-in note of scale. Ultrasound reports use it often, because ultrasound is very good at overall shape and size and less good at fine internal texture.
What it does not mean
- Anything unpleasant. The word is a false friend from ordinary English.
- That the study was poor quality. That would be described differently, as a limited or degraded study.
Where you will see it
Words in this phrase
One phrase is not the whole report
What this sentence means for you depends on everything else your report says. Radily reads the whole thing and explains it in plain English — and can talk you through it on video, so you are not reading medical language alone.
Other phrases on your report
- No acute intracranial abnormalityThe scan found nothing new or urgent inside the skull — no bleeding, no swelling, no sign of injury needing treatment today.
- UnremarkableNormal. There was nothing worth remarking on.
- Mild degenerative changesOrdinary age-related wear in the joints or spine — the kind almost everyone develops, to some degree, as they get older.
- No acute cardiopulmonary processThe chest X-ray shows no new problem with the heart or lungs — no pneumonia, no fluid around the lungs, no collapsed lung, and a heart that looks a normal size.
This explains how a phrase is commonly used in radiology reports. It is not a diagnosis, not a reading of your scan, and not medical advice. Only your doctor can tell you what your own report means.