False-positive Meckel's imaging and true-positive imaging of a gastrointestinal bleed and surgical lesion.

A 76-year-old woman presented after 1 day of melena and anemia. A Meckel's scan revealed an upper mid abdominal focus of activity that paralleled stomach activity. Later, the surgeon removed the corresponding lesion in the mid ilium. Pathology confirmed that the lesion was a carcinoid tumor, not ectopic gastric mucosa. The false-positive Meckel's scan had revealed the true source of gastrointestinal bleeding and an unsuspected solitary carcinoid tumor. This is the third published case of a carcinoid tumor discovered by a false-positive Meckel's scan.