Meckel's diverticulum. Investigation of 600 patients in Japanese literature.

A total of 600 cases, comprising 4 of our cases and 596 others in Japan, was analyzed, and the diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum was made in only 34 of them. The rate of diagnosis was 5.7 per cent, which is very low. The most common complication of this disease was intestinal obstruction, the second most common was intussusception, the third was inflammation, and the fourth was rectal bleeding. Ectopic tissue, present in ninety-three patients, consisted of ectopic gastric mucosa in fifty-eight. 99mTc-P scanning was performed on fifteen patients. In twelve of them ectopic gastric mucosa was observed. However, it was not found in three, all of whom had false-positive scans.