What does “No interval change” mean on a radiology report?
Nothing has changed since your previous scan.
Why the radiologist wrote it that way
"Interval" means the time between the two scans. When an older study is available, the radiologist compares them directly, and stability over time is one of the most informative things imaging can show.
Is this good or bad news?
Usually very reassuring, especially where something was being watched. Things that do not change over months or years behave like benign things. This sentence is the whole reason follow-up scans are ordered: not because anyone expects change, but because its absence is itself the answer.
What it does not mean
- That a previously described finding has gone. It is still there, just unchanged.
- That the scan was not properly examined.
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.