Exclude

(A private radiology report that I receive recently – the clinical detail is rather irrelevant.)

There is some inflammatory changes with surrounding edema. The appearance is compatible with acute infection. Differential diagnosis include chronic infection and immunological conditions. Although there is no definite mass, the possibility of a small neoplasm could not be excluded.

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For those who are actively practising medicine, you may find the above report familiar. It is, in fact, the standard format of many radiologists to present the list of differential diagnosis. Nonetheless, at the receiving side, my nerve is touched. To put it simply, let's consider the following scenario:

A girl asks her friend, "Do you think my boyfriend is flirting around in the party?"

It would make a whole not of difference for the friend to reply I didn't see anything and I didn't see anything, but it does not mean that he is not doing so.