A sewing needle in the liver.

An 85-year-old woman with Alzheimer's dementia was hospitalized because of prolonged fever, breathlessness, and generalized pain. Blood analysis showed an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and temporal artery biopsy showed giant cell arteritis. Prednisone therapy was instituted, and the patient's condition partially improved. Incidentally, abdominal radiographs revealed a sewing needle in the right upper quadrant, and computed tomography (CT) showed that the needle was lodged in the liver parenchyma.