Introduction
Needle fragment embolization occurs in IV drug users when a piece of the
IV needle breaks and escapes into the systemic vasculature. In a
retrospective study done by Norfolk et al looking at 70 IV drug users,
20% of the subjects reported a history of broken needle fragments
during drug use.(1) Although there are multiple reports of needle
embolization related to various etiologies including acupuncture,
self-inflicted injury, trauma etc, needle fragment embolization to the
heart in the IV drug user population has been rarely reported.(2,3). In
this case report, we describe a case of needle embolism to the heart in
a 28 year old IV drug user and review the existing literature on similar
cases.