Massive Gastrointestinal Bleeding in an Adult Patient with Meckel's Diverticulum: Utility of SPECT/CT with Technetium 99 m Pertechnetate

Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding is often a diagnostic challenge for the primary care physician, but with improvements in diagnostic testing the cause of such blood loss is determined in most patients. However, in approximately 5% of the cases, the source of bleeding is not identifiable. One common etiology in patients younger than 40 years of age is Meckel’s diverticulum. Technetium-99m pertechnetate scintigraphy is the standard imaging method for demonstrating Meckel’s diverticula that contain heterotopic gastric mucosa. Here we describe a young female patient with intestinal bleeding in whom Meckel’s diverticulum was suspected, and the use of SPECT/CT fusion imaging provided valuable diagnostic information, thus avoiding a false-negative result.