What does “Simple cyst” mean on a radiology report?
A thin-walled sac of clear fluid with no solid parts — one of the most common, and most reliably harmless, findings on a scan.
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General explanations of common wording, not advice about your own scan. Ask the doctor who ordered it what your results mean for you.
Why the radiologist wrote it that way
"Simple" is a technical word here. It means the cyst meets strict appearance criteria: a thin smooth wall, fluid inside with nothing solid, no internal walls (septations) and, on ultrasound, sound passing straight through it. When all of those are met, the radiologist can call it simple, which is a confident statement that it is benign. Anything that does not meet the criteria is described differently — for example as "complex" or "complicated".
Is this good or bad news?
Simple cysts in the kidney and liver are very common and become more so with age; many people have several. Simple kidney cysts fall into the lowest category of the Bosniak classification that radiologists use for kidney cysts, which is regarded as benign and does not normally need follow-up. Simple ovarian cysts in women of reproductive age are often part of the normal monthly cycle. They rarely cause symptoms unless they are large.
What it does not mean
- A tumour. A simple cyst is fluid, not a growth of tissue.
- That it needs removing or draining. Most never need anything done.
- That a "complex" cyst seen elsewhere is the same thing. That word means the strict criteria were not met, and it is handled differently.
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.