Falx ossification

Last revised by Mostafa Elfeky on 12 Jul 2023

In discussing mineralization of the falx cerebri, many radiology textbooks use the term falx calcification and make no mention of falx ossification

Ossification of dural folds is relatively unusual; one study suggested a prevalence of falx ossification of 0.7% 1. Even though, ossification of an isolated site of the falx cerebri is very rare in medical literature 2

None of the available literature had mentioned whether gender or ethnicity plays any role in falx ossification.

Incidence of falcine ossification has been reported in certain medical disorders such as 2-8:

Since the falx cerebri is derived from embryonic mesenchymal cells, occasional ossification might be seen due to friction, hemorrhage, or trauma, which results in some osteogenic changes leading to the formation of membranous bone. 

CT scan can clearly distinguish an isolated ossification of the falx from ossification that has spread to the falx from the frontal bone 6.

On magnetic resonance images, falx ossification exhibits a typical appearance consisting of a central marrow-containing portion with signal intensity similar to fat (bright on T1), surrounded by low signal intensity representing cortical bone 1-8.

There is no difficulty identifying the ossification process on CT images, nevertheless on MRI images some differentials should be considered: 

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