title: Anaemia in the elderly: caveat caecum.
abstract: The experience of a professorial unit over a four-year period of carcinoma of the colon and rectum is described. The high incidence of anaemia in lesions proximal to the splenic flexure is shown. The distressing misdiagnosis of the cause of this anaemia is pointed out, and the consequent misuse of haematinics in the form of blood transfusion, iron and vitamin B12 is shown.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000740:Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D002430:Cecal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications; D012811:Sigmoid Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins