Rat's tail sign (oesophagus)

Last revised by Frank Gaillard ◉ ◈ on 11 Feb 2025

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Gaillard F, Ibrahim D, Niknejad M, et al. Rat's tail sign (oesophagus). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 23 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-5997

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-5997

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/5997?embed_domain=audioexotica.com%252Fplacing-sounds-atmos-mix

rID:

5997

Article created:

5 Apr 2009, Frank Gaillard ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.

View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures

Last revised:

11 Feb 2025, Frank Gaillard ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Frank Gaillard had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures

Revisions:

14 times, by 9 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Gastrointestinal

Sections:

Signs

Tags:

refs

Synonyms:

Rat-tail sign
Rat tail sign
Rat tail signs

The rat's tail sign refers to tapering of the inferior oesophagus on barium swallow study. Many sources use this sign synonymously with the bird beak sign (oesophagus) and indicate that it is characteristic of achalasia ¹. It is important to remember that if a "rat tail" involves more than just the distal oesophagus and/or has contour irregularity, then this raises the possibility of oesophageal carcinoma (i.e. pseudoachalasia).