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The Anglo-Swiss Colo-Proctology Meeting, held at Lausanne in May 1983, enabled numerous specialists to share their experiences of lower gastrointestinal tract pathology. The focus was on ischae­ mic disease and tumours of the colon, rectum and anus. By featuring ischaemic disease in our programme we hoped to give this too often underestimated process a fair hearing. Ischaemic lesions are far more common than is recognised on clinical grounds alone, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract. Large intestine is­ chaemia is often confused with other syndromes, especially since the clinical features evoked are, in most cases, atypical. Thus diag­ nosis is frequently late, with dramatic consequences. The oncology section basically discusses the early diagnosis of gastrointestinal tumours, a prerequisite for improving survival in af­ fected patients, and also presentation and treatment of certain rare tumours. The third section of this volume covers various diverse subjects including surgical technique, functional disorders of the large intes­ tine, inflammatory bowel disease, haemorrhoids and investigatory procedures. Several of the articles come from international authorities in their field. Some communications contain unpublished results, and others may lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic methods. We feel that the quality and variety of the texts from the Anglo-Swiss Colo­ Proctology Meeting merit wide appreciation. We are grateful to Springer-Verlag for accepting these proceed­ ings for publication.