Haemorrhage--the main presenting feature of diverticular disease of the colon in blacks.

Haemorrhage is one of the less common presentations of diverticular disease. This retrospective 5-year study of 23 patients has identified it as the main presentation (74%) among South African blacks in whom the disease is uncommon, but emerging as a clinical problem. Women constituted a statistically significant majority of patients with bleeding (76%); this was in excess of their overall proportion among patients with diverticular disease (61%) (P = 0.018).