09/11/2022    

QUERIES (CLINICAL)

Query: Foreign Bodies Mystery

I recently had a patient who was born with only a middle and ring finger on one hand. In 1983, he had the 2nd toe and a partial 2nd metatarsal resection and the toe was successfully made into an  opposable thumb.

Can you identify these foreign bodies?

He was in the Navy but had no other surgical procedures nor trauma to the foot such as stepping on something at a beach that he remembered. Does anyone have any idea what these multiple fragments could represent. Both of us were surprised when we saw the x-rays. This is definitely not an x-ray artifact.