Chronic Iron Deficiency Anemia Due to Meckel's Diverticulum

MASSIVE intestinal hemorrhage is a well-known complication of Meckel's diverticulum. Chronic blood loss, not grossly identifiable in the stool, leading to iron deficiency anemia is rarely recorded. A case will be presented and the literature reviewed. Report of a Case A 6-year-old white girl was admitted on July 26, 1965, for evaluation of chronic anemia. In August 1964, she became pale, anorexic, and listless, without abdominal pain, change in bowel habit, bloody or dark stools. The laboratory values found were as follows: Hemoglobin, 7gm/100 ml; hematocrit, 25%; mean corpuscular volume, 76 cu μ; mean corpuscular hemoglobin, 19μμg; mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, 25%; white blood cell count (WBC), 6,850/cu mm; reticulocyte count, 0.5%; serum iron, 44μg/100 ml; total iron binding capacity, 420μg/100 ml; and stool specimen for occult blood, 1+. A course of iron was administered parenterally and the laboratory values changed to: Hemoglobin, 11.5 gm/100 ml; and hematocrit, 34%. In