A Tiny Metal Coil That Stopped His Kidney Bleeding Later Turned Up Crusted in Stone Inside His Kidney

Women Lost 25% of Body Weight on CagriSema in Trial Analysis, but Most Users Had Digestive Side EffectsWomen on CagriSema lost 25% of their body weight in a post hoc trial analysis, while 79.6% of users had digestive side effects. The drug is not approved. Ice Water, Math Quizzes, and Shocks: The 1948 Breastfeeding Experiment That Showed Stress Can Slow Milk FlowIn 1948, researchers stressed a nursing mother with ice water, toe pulling, and math problems with shocks. Each time, her baby got less milk. Thanksgiving 2026 Almanac Outlook Calls for Upper Midwest Snow and Eastern Rain as Travelers Plan AheadThe Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts snow in the Upper Midwest and rain in the East for Thanksgiving 2026. Here is how to plan travel safely and stay healthy. Cervical Cancer Screening Gaps Persist in the South and West as At-Home HPV Testing Expands for WomenA new study shows uneven cervical cancer screening across U.S. regions. Here are current Pap and HPV schedules and at-home testing options. Mental Health New Jersey Picks Rutgers to Study Addictive Social Media Features and Whether Warning Labels Protect Young PeopleNew Jersey chose Rutgers for a $500,000 social media research center to study addictive features and warning labels. What the evidence shows so far. Danville Company Agrees to Pay $1.8 Million Over Alleged Medicaid Billing for Mental Health Services by Uncredentialed ProviderA Danville company will pay $1.8 million to settle claims it billed Virginia Medicaid for mental health services by an uncredentialed provider. A Man Told Doctors He Was a Physics Professor and NFL Draft Pick Until They Reached His FatherA 28-year-old’s ER stories of an NFL draft and a dead fiancée unraveled. A 2026 review of 55 cases maps a rare pattern called pseudologia fantastica. New York Overdose Deaths Fell About 8% in a Year, Far Slower Than the Earlier Two-Year DeclineNew York overdose deaths fell about 8% in the 12 months ending May 2026, CDC data show, a much slower pace than the state’s earlier two-year drop of more than 40%. Innovation Routine CT Scans Captured Steeper Fat Loss in the Three Years Before Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis Among 1,825 PatientsMayo Clinic researchers saw steeper fat loss on routine CT scans years before pancreatic cancer diagnosis. Accuracy was moderate, and no test exists yet. Olympus Capsule Endoscope Set and Small-Intestine Scope Join FDA Import Alert, but Hospitals Can Keep Using Current DevicesThe FDA added an Olympus capsule endoscope set and a small-intestine scope to an import alert. See which models are affected and what patients should know. Air Purifiers Added to 68 Operating Rooms Did Not Cut Surgical Infections Across More Than 110,000 OperationsA trial of 110,538 operations found that adding operating room air purifiers did not lower infections. See how the blinded swap worked and what it means. An 86-Year-Old’s ECG Mimicked the Ominous Spiked Helmet Sign, and Doctors Traced It to a Pulsing Leg ArteryAn 86-year-old’s ECG resembled the spiked helmet sign tied to critical illness. Moving one leg electrode off a pulsing artery made it disappear. Healthy Living New York Measles Cases Reach 162 Twelve Days After Disaster Emergency as Hochul Asks RFK Jr. for StaffingNew York’s measles count hit 162 as Hochul seeks federal staffing help. See what the jump means for families before the emergency order ends Nov. 4. Flu Is Growing or Likely Growing in 46 States as CDC Rolls Out Local Tool to Spot SurgesCDC estimates show flu is growing or likely growing in 46 states. See what the new local tracking tool shows and why it does not predict severity. Richland County Becomes Eighth Wisconsin County Reporting Measles Since August as Statewide Total Reaches 289 CasesRichland County confirmed a measles case linked to Wisconsin’s southwest outbreak as the state total reached 289. Symptoms and steps for families. Washington Estimates 250,000 Apple Health Medicaid Enrollees Could Lose Coverage When Federal Work Rules Begin in JanuaryWashington estimates 250,000 Medicaid enrollees could lose coverage under federal work rules starting in January. Who is exempt, and how to prepare. Covid – 19 FDA Proposes Requiring Companies to Report Food Additives That Now Reach Grocery Shelves Without Federal ReviewFDA has released its proposed GRAS rule requiring companies to notify the agency about food additives. Here is what the proposal does and does not do. Federal Regulators Warn Some Hair Dryer Brushes Lack the Part That Stops ElectrocutionCPSC warns hair dryer brushes sold on Walmart.com and TikTok Shop lack immersion protection. The seller has not agreed to a recall or refund. A Recalled Teething Toy Broke the Pattern Parents Were Told to Look ForA newly recalled pull-string teething toy has a different model number and design from earlier recalls, and one choking incident has been reported. Trying to Lower Blood Sugar, Cholesterol or Blood Pressure? Different Workouts Suited Different MarkersA pooled analysis of 53 trials found that different exercise types helped different metabolic markers. Most of the evidence was low certainty. Editorial Illustration via AI Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pocket A 42-year-old man kept developing painful stones in his right kidney. He already had a known reason to form them: cystinuria, a rare inherited condition that produces cystine stones. But when surgeons went in with a scope to clear the latest stone, they found something else holding it together.

A metallic, wire-like object was poking into the kidney’s urine-collecting chamber, its surface crusted with stone. It was an embolization coil, a tiny device placed three years earlier to stop serious bleeding after a previous kidney stone operation.

Urologists at the University of California San Diego and Phramongkutklao Hospital in Bangkok described the case in Urology Case Reports in February. They call coil migration into the urinary collecting system an exceedingly rare complication that may cause stones to keep coming back.

Three years earlier, the man had undergone percutaneous nephrolithotomy, or PCNL, an operation that removes large stones through a small tunnel made through the back into the kidney. The surgery was complicated by significant bleeding.

Imaging found a renal pseudoaneurysm, a damaged artery leaking blood. Doctors sealed it with selective coil embolization, threading a catheter into the artery and placing a detachable coil, 2 millimeters wide and 4 centimeters long, to block the vessel. It worked, and the bleeding stopped.

The authors note that this approach is effective and widely accepted for bleeding after PCNL. The problem came later. A CT scan showed a kidney stone next to a bright linear density that suggested a foreign body.

The authors describe two ways a coil can end up in the urinary system. It may gradually erode through kidney tissue, or it may pass through a direct channel created by the earlier PCNL tunnel. Once the coil is exposed to urine, minerals can build up on it.

Similar cases have been published, but rarely. An earlier case report described a stone that resisted shock wave treatment because it had formed on a coil placed four years before. A 2014 report described a large stone that grew around a stainless steel coil placed in 2003.

The coil’s design may have played a role. Procedure records showed it was a Medtronic Concerto 3D detachable coil that, based on manufacturer specifications and operative notes, most likely contained nylon fibers.

Those fibers serve a purpose. They add surface area and promote clotting, which helps seal the damaged vessel. But in urine, the authors write, fibered coil material may make it easier for crystals to stick and build up.

That is their interpretation, not a tested finding. They conclude that the nylon fibers likely facilitated stone formation once the coil was exposed to urine, particularly in a patient with cystinuria.

His underlying condition matters. Cystinuria causes the amino acid cystine to build up in urine, where it can form stones, and the authors note that it carries a high risk of recurrence even without a foreign object.

That overlap can make cases like this easy to miss. A patient with a known metabolic reason for stones may simply be assumed to be having another ordinary recurrence, and a coil that has eroded into the collecting system can mimic a stone on imaging.

Still, the authors argue that metabolism alone does not explain what they saw. The recurring stones were consistently crusted onto the coil in the same kidney. That pattern, they say, supports the coil as a contributing mechanical factor, acting as a fixed core for new stones, rather than his cystinuria alone.

Composite stones built around metal can also resist standard treatment. In the earlier four-year case, two rounds of shock wave lithotripsy failed to break up the stone. The coil was discovered only when surgeons looked directly inside the kidney with a flexible scope and used a laser to remove the stone and the exposed part of the coil.

During ureteroscopy, a procedure in which a thin scope passes up through the urinary tract, the surgeons used a laser to break up the stone and cut away the exposed portion of the coil. They retrieved the fragments with a small basket.

They left the part of the coil embedded in kidney tissue where it was. Aggressively pulling out a deeply embedded coil carries a substantial risk of bleeding, the authors note, citing earlier experience removing eroded coils. They focused instead on clearing the stone and removing the exposed segment. There were no complications and no significant bleeding.

That choice carries a trade-off. The remaining metal could, in theory, become exposed again and seed future stones, so the authors recommend long-term monitoring.

As a single case, the report cannot say how often this complication occurs after renal embolization. Its practical message is aimed at clinicians: when stones keep returning in a kidney that once had coil embolization, a migrated coil belongs on the list of suspects. Patients who have had the procedure can help by making sure their urologist knows about it.

A small, flexible metal device placed through a catheter to block a bleeding or damaged blood vessel. In this case, it sealed a leaking kidney artery after stone surgery.

How did the coil end up where urine collects?

The authors suggest it either eroded gradually through kidney tissue or passed through the channel left by the earlier stone operation.

Once exposed to urine, the coil became a surface where minerals could build up. Its nylon fibers, meant to help blood clot, may have made it easier for crystals to stick.

No. Surgeons removed the stone and the exposed part of the coil but left the embedded segment to avoid dangerous bleeding, and they advise long-term monitoring.

No. The authors call coil migration into the urinary collecting system exceedingly rare, and only a small number of cases have been published.