Tutorial: Explaining MRI Findings to a Worried Patient

This tutorial walks you through using an AI tool to produce a plain-language explanation of an MRI finding for a patient who has already seen her radiology report and is frightened by what she read.

The scenario: a 48-year-old woman has had an MRI of her left knee following four months of medial knee pain. She was given online access to her report through her GP's patient portal. The report describes a horizontal cleavage tear of the medial meniscus and moderate medial compartment osteoarthritis. She arrives at your clinic holding a printout of the report, visibly anxious.

Step 1: Open the tool and set the context

Open claude.ai or chat.openai.com. Start a fresh conversation. Type:

You are helping an orthopaedic surgeon produce a plain-language 
explanation of imaging findings for a patient. I will describe the 
findings and the patient's concerns. You will produce a clear, calm 
explanation that the patient can read at home. Do not recommend a 
treatment. Do not predict whether surgery will be needed.

Step 2: Describe the findings and the patient's concern

MRI findings: horizontal cleavage tear of the medial meniscus, 
moderate medial compartment osteoarthritis.

Patient: woman, 48, medial knee pain for 4 months. Has read her 
radiology report on a patient portal and is frightened by the 
word "tear". Her main concern is whether this means she needs surgery.

Please explain:
- What the medial meniscus is and what it does
- What a horizontal cleavage tear means — and that this type of 
  tear is often managed without surgery in people her age
- What osteoarthritis of the knee means in plain English
- That the significance of these findings depends on her symptoms 
  and will be discussed in the consultation
- That there are several management options, ranging from 
  physiotherapy to surgery, and that these will be discussed today

Tone: calm, informative, and not alarming. Do not imply surgery 
is either certain or impossible. Maximum 300 words.

Step 3: Read the first draft

The tool will produce a draft within fifteen seconds. Here is an example:

Understanding Your MRI Results

You have been given access to your MRI report, which can be difficult to read without a medical background. This note explains the key findings in plain English.

What the Medial Meniscus Is

Your knee joint has two small cartilage pads — called menisci — that sit between the thigh bone and the shin bone. They act as shock absorbers and help the joint move smoothly. The medial meniscus is the one on the inner side of the knee.

What a Horizontal Cleavage Tear Means

A horizontal cleavage tear is a type of split within the meniscus. It is a common finding in people in their forties and fifties and is often associated with the natural changes that happen in cartilage over time. This type of tear is different from the sudden, traumatic tears that happen in young athletes. In many people with this type of finding, pain can be managed well without surgery.

What Osteoarthritis of the Knee Means

Osteoarthritis means that the smooth cartilage surface inside the knee joint has begun to wear. "Moderate" means there has been some wear, though not complete loss of the joint space. This is also a common finding in people your age and does not always cause significant symptoms.

What Happens Next

Your surgeon will review your MRI alongside your symptoms and examination findings today. The significance of these results depends on how they relate to your pain and function — the scan alone does not tell the whole story. You will discuss your options together, which may include physiotherapy, injections, or, in some cases, surgery.

Step 4: Read the draft as a clinician

Read every sentence with clinical eyes. In this example, you notice:

• The description of a horizontal cleavage tear as "common in people in their forties and fifties" is accurate and appropriate in tone
• The phrase "often managed well without surgery" is honest without implying surgery is impossible or unlikely
• The osteoarthritis section correctly says "not always cause significant symptoms" — avoiding both minimisation and alarm

One thing you want to adjust: the sentence "Your surgeon will review your MRI alongside your symptoms" is slightly formal. You want the tone to feel more personal. Ask the tool to revise:

Rewrite the "What Happens Next" section to feel slightly warmer 
and more personal — as if written by a doctor who knows the patient 
is anxious. Keep all the clinical content. Maximum 60 words.

The tool produces a warmer revision. Read it. If it reads as genuinely kind rather than formulaic, keep it. If it sounds hollow, write those two sentences yourself.

Step 5: Give the document to the patient before the consultation

This is the key part of how this tool earns its time. Give the document to your patient in the waiting room, or at the start of the consultation, before you begin your clinical explanation. She reads it in three minutes. When you begin talking, she already has a framework. She asks better questions. She is less frightened. The consultation is more productive.

Step 6: Use the consultation to personalise the explanation

The document explains the general findings. The consultation is where you explain what these findings mean for this patient — her specific symptoms, her activity level, her treatment goals. The document lowers the floor. You raise the ceiling.

Step 7: Offer to add contact details and next steps

After the consultation, if the patient wants a copy of the explanation to share with her family or GP, add your name, the date, and your contact details at the bottom. This is a clinical document you are providing — it should be clear who produced it.

What the tool does badly

The tool explains anatomy in a way that is generally accurate but sometimes oversimplified. "Shock absorbers" is a useful lay term for the menisci. But it is not technically precise, and an informed patient may push back on it. If this patient has a health or science background, consider whether the lay term is right or whether a slightly more precise description — "cartilage pads that distribute load and stabilise the joint" — is better.

The tool also cannot calibrate how much importance to give each finding for this patient. A horizontal cleavage tear in a 48-year-old with significant symptoms and functional limitation has a different clinical weight than the same finding in a patient with mild intermittent pain. The document explains the findings generally. You explain what they mean specifically.

What to try next

Apply this approach to the next MRI or X-ray report you review before a clinic appointment. Write a brief anonymised summary of the key findings, specify the patient's main concern, and ask the tool to draft the explanation. By the third or fourth time, the process takes under five minutes.

Remember: AI is a helpful assistant, not a clinician. You make the call.