A 19-year-old man comes to the physician for a routine physical. He has no past medical history or physical symptoms. Laboratory testing shows a hemoglobin of 11 g/dL and MCV of 76 fL. He eats a varied diet with plenty of red meat. There is no family history of autoimmune disorders. A fecal occult blood test is positive. Inflammatory markers are negative. As part of his workup, the physician considers whether a technetium-99 test, if performed, would localize to the right lower quadrant. If this intuition is correct, which of the following would best explain this patient’s hematologic findings?
A) Abnormal migration of ventral bud
B) Heterotopic gastric mucosa
C) Inflammation within a false diverticulum
D) Interleukin-6 effect
E) Malignancy
