History: 45 yo female with history of industrial exposure.
Solution: The lungs are normal in this case. It is however, a cautionary tale about looking at the corner of the film and at the scout image
since there is a metallic foreign body seen on the CT in the left upper quadrant, that on the scout film is clearly a malpositioned IUD. Identifying this is important for two primary reasons. First, the IUD will obviously not be very effective as a birth control device in this location and second, there can be associated complications, including bowel and bladder perforation and infection. These are generally surgically removed, although some believe that certain IUD's can be left in place. The rate of intraperitoneal placement is less than 1%.
since there is a metallic foreign body seen on the CT in the left upper quadrant, that on the scout film is clearly a malpositioned IUD. Identifying this is important for two primary reasons. First, the IUD will obviously not be very effective as a birth control device in this location and second, there can be associated complications, including bowel and bladder perforation and infection. These are generally surgically removed, although some believe that certain IUD's can be left in place. The rate of intraperitoneal placement is less than 1%.
CT Images
