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Updated: May 24, 2026
Comprehensive Endovascular and Open Surgical Management of Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations
Published on: October 20, 2017
Extraction of a headscarf pin from the vertebral artery without embolization
Ophir Ilan1, Jeffrey M Weinberger, J Moshe Gomori
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hadassah Hebrew-University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. aluf@cc.huji.ac.il
Background:
Foreign bodies traversing the aerodigestive tract lining into the surrounding soft tissues is a well-known entity. A 14-year-old girl was referred to our hospital after swallowing a pin that was not visualized by laryngoscopy, despite a neck film that localized it to the level of the larynx.
Methods:
A CT scan demonstrated a bent pin piercing the left vertebral artery "through and through," and this was confirmed by angiography. The pin was extracted via an external approach to the neck without preoperative intravascular manipulation.
Results:
Angiography immediately after the surgery demonstrated a stable thrombotic sleeve in the vertebral artery without further clot propagation or bleeding from the vessel wall. This is the first report of a "through and through" thrombotic sleeve in an artery.
Conclusions:
Simple surgical removal of a sharp foreign body from the vertebral artery without intravascular management may be a reasonable option.
