Clinical correlation is recommended
What “clinical correlation is recommended” means on your report →The sentence is addressed to your doctor, not to you. What a radiologist means by it, the three different jobs it does, and when it is worth asking about.Read Your Scan Editorial Team·Last updated
Written from published radiology references and reviewed for plain language. Not written or signed by a physician, and not a diagnosis. How we write these pages →
In plain language
The images alone cannot settle the question, so the radiologist is handing it back to the doctor who examined you. It is a routine handover, not a warning — the person with your symptoms, your history and your blood results is better placed to say what the picture means.
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Where you'll see this
The last line of an impression, on any modality. One of the most common sentences in radiology.
Your report may word it “Clinically correlate”, “Correlation with clinical findings is advised” or “Clinical correlation is suggested”. These mean the same thing.
Questions worth asking your doctor
- Does this wording mean you are unsure, or that you are reasonably confident and being careful?
- If something cannot be ruled out from this scan, what would rule it out?
- Is there anything here you would act on today?
How often does this turn up?
It is close to a stock closing line, and it appears on reports of every kind. The radiologist has done their half — described what is on the images — and is saying explicitly that the other half needs someone who can examine you. Between doctors it reads as ordinary professional handover. Read cold by the person the scan belongs to, it can sound like a hedge or a warning, which is why it is one of the most-searched sentences in radiology.
Does it mean something is wrong?
It is not a signal on its own, in either direction. It appears under completely normal reports and under abnormal ones, and its presence tells you nothing about which you are holding. What matters is the sentence before it. If the impression describes a finding and then asks for clinical correlation, the radiologist is saying "here is what I can see, and whether it matters depends on how the patient is" — not "I am worried and cannot say so".
What to do with it
The correlation the line asks for is a conversation, and it is the appointment you already have. Your doctor puts the images next to your symptoms, your examination and your history, and reaches a conclusion that the radiologist was not in a position to reach. If a report ends this way and nobody has contacted you, that is consistent with there being nothing urgent — but the line itself is an instruction to your doctor, not a reassurance to you, so it is fair to ask what the correlation actually showed.
Frequently asked questions
- Does clinical correlation is recommended mean something is wrong?
- No. It is a standard closing sentence that appears on normal and abnormal reports alike. It means the images have been described and the judgement about what they mean for you belongs to the doctor who can examine you.
- Why does the radiologist not just say what it means?
- Because in most cases they cannot, and saying so is the honest position. A radiologist usually has not met you, has not examined you and often knows only the one line of clinical history on the request. The images alone frequently support several explanations, and choosing between them needs information that is not in the pictures.
- What should I ask my doctor about it?
- Ask the question the line is really posing: does what the scan describes explain the symptoms I came in with? Ask it directly, because that is exactly the gap the radiologist flagged and it is the one thing the report deliberately left open.
Careful and hedged wording
Where this word comes up
Still worried about what your report says?
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