Dural tail: Meaning in a Radiology Report

Dural tail

Also written as: dural tail sign, dural tail enhancement

A dural tail is a thin, tapering strip of the brain's covering that brightens after contrast next to a mass. It is typical of meningioma but not proof.

Seen on: MRI

How it reads in a report

Enhancing extra-axial mass along the right tentorium with an associated dural tail, favoring a meningioma.

What it means

The dura is the tough outer membrane that lines the inside of the skull. Next to some masses it becomes thicker and brightens after contrast dye, tapering away from the mass like a tail. Sometimes this is tumor spreading along the membrane. Often it is only a reaction, with extra blood flow and fluid in the dura near the mass.

When it matters

A dural tail helps show that a mass sits on the brain's covering rather than inside the brain. It points toward meningioma, the most common cause. Other masses can show it too, including tumors that have spread from elsewhere, lymphoma and some inflammatory conditions. So the radiologist weighs it together with the mass's shape, contents and any growth over time. Surgeons also take it into account when planning.

Questions to ask your doctor

Does the dural tail make a meningioma the most likely cause?
What else could cause this appearance in my case?
Will the scan be repeated to see whether the mass is changing?

General information, not medical advice. What a finding means for you depends on your symptoms, your history and the images themselves, so talk your results through with a doctor.