Gun shot wound: impacted bullet

Case contributed by Zaid Omari
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

A brain cancer patient, with a history of a gun shot to the left shoulder .

Patient Data

Age: 72
Gender: Male
x-ray

Portable CXR of the patient shows a( bullet shaped ) foreign object, in the projection of left shoulder. 

On chest CT scan, the bullet is causing significant artefact, and appears impacted in the left supraspinatus muscle. 

Case Discussion

The most common gun bullets are made of a lead core and are safe in an MRI environment, however, steel bullets and armour piercing bullets with a stainless steel core are not safe for MRI imaging. 
 

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