Based on a study of the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, only about 4% of patients with diverticulosis develop acute diverticulitis, contradicting the common belief that diverticulosis has a high rate of progression. We also found that younger patients have a higher risk of diverticulitis, with risk increasing per year of life. These results can help inform patients with diverticulosis about their risk of developing acute diverticulitis.

Provision of a novel educational booklet considerably improves preparation quality in patients receiving single-dose purgatives. The effect of the booklet on split-dose purgatives remains untested and will be evaluated in future research.

A standardized, reproducible Ivy bleeding time technic has been described which permits one to obtain accurate bleeding time data in man. The technic was used to standardize an aspirin tolerance test in which 60 normal males had a control bleeding time; were given, on a double blind basis, either placebo or 1 Gm. of aspirin, and had a second bleeding time 2 hours later. The control values were: mean, 5 min.; mean ± 2 st. dev., 2 min., 30 sec. to 10 min. The values after placebo were: mean, 5 min., 30 sec.; mean ± 2 st. dev., 2 min., 30 sec. to 11 min. The values after aspirin were: mean, 9 min., 30 sec.; mean ± 2 st. dev., 4 min. to 21 min. The difference between the mean bleeding time after placebo and after aspirin was highly significant (p < 0.001). The distribution of the bleeding times after aspirin suggested that normal subjects do not respond to aspirin as a single population. The degree of prolongation of the bleeding time and the large size of the drops of blood observed in some subjects suggested to us that small amounts of aspirin may exert a significant effect upon hemostasis in normal individuals.

A substantial volume of the consultations requested of gastroenterologists are directed towards the evaluation of anemia. Since iron deficiency anemia often arises from bleeding gastrointestinal lesions, many of which are malignant, establishment of a firm diagnosis usually obligates an endoscopic evaluation. Although the laboratory tests used to make the diagnosis have not changed in many decades, their interpretation has, and this is possibly due to the availability of extensive testing in key populations. We provide data supporting the use of the serum ferritin as the sole useful measure of iron stores, setting the lower limit at 100 μg/l for some populations in order to increase the sensitivity of the test. Trends of the commonly obtained red cell indices, mean corpuscular volume, and the red cell distribution width can provide valuable diagnostic information. Once the diagnosis is established, upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy is usually indicated. Nevertheless, in many cases a gastrointestinal source is not found after routine evaluation. Additional studies, including repeat upper and lower endoscopy and often investigation of the small intestine may thus be required. Although oral iron is inexpensive and usually effective, there are many gastrointestinal conditions that warrant treatment of iron deficiency with intravenous iron.