A SURVEY of the literature reveals a wide difference between the classical type of acute intussusception and that initiated by Meckel's diverticulum. To determine the nature, extent, and explanation of these dissimilarities, all cases of the Meckel's diverticulum type of intussusception in the English-speaking literature since Harkins'1 original report in 1933 have been reviewed. The disparities were found to pertain to age incidence, symptomatology, clinical and surgical findings, and mortality.
Our interest in this subject was stimulated by a relatively high incidence of Meckel's diverticulum in a series of 116 cases of acute intussusception2 and by the high morbidity and mortality in these particular cases. Some manifest differences between adult and pediatric patients in the Meckel's diverticulum variety of intussusception are outlined by a brief presentation of nine cases of this syndrome seen in St. Louis Children's Hospital from 1934 to 1951.
PREVIOUS OBSERVATIONS
Intussusception is not a