Hepatic inflammatory mass secondary to toothpick perforation of the stomach: triphasic CT appearances

Unintentional ingestion of foreign bodies is common in daily life. The unin tentional ingestion of sharp foreign bodies such as toothpicks, fish bones and chicken bones carries a significant risk of perforation of the gastroin testinal tract. Herein, we report a case of hepatic inflammatory mass compl icated by the perforation of an ingested toothpick that had a distinctive e nhancement pattern on dynamic computed tomograms (CT). Understanding the ph enomenon of enhancement in triphasic CT study is the basis in differentiati ng liver neoplasms. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.