PROBLEM
A 62-year-old man complains that for two days he has had a strange feeling in his throat that is worse with swallowing. What is your interpretation of this view of his neck?

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ANSWER
This lateral soft tissue radiograph of the cervical spine shows a radiopaque foreign body anterior to the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae. The gastroenterology service was consulted to perform an endoscopy and successfully removed a 1-X-1-inch chicken vertebra without any complications.

This series of diagnostic quizzes that challenge your ability to read a variety of x-ray films is edited by Dr. Keats, alumni professor of radiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. Emerg Med 39(3):55-6, 2007