36-mm needle in the heart prompts rare surgical rescue in self-embedding case
Doctors in China found a 36-mm sewing needle lodged in the left ventricle of a 35-year-old man with cognitive impairment, part of multiple metallic foreign bodies scattered through his body. Although the needle breached the pericardial sac, the patient had no heart symptoms and underwent surgery to remove it first, with subsequent removal of other needles. The case, published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, highlights rare self-embedding behavior linked to psychiatric conditions, with the needles’ origin remaining unknown. Cardiac foreign bodies of this kind are exceedingly rare (roughly 34 cases since 1967).
