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A 73-year-old man with an 8-week history of angina underwent an exercise tolerance test at the rapid access clinic, which indicated inducible ischaemia and he was subsequently referred for angiogram. His angiogram demonstrated no coronary pathology. It was later discovered that bloods taken on the day of the procedure showed a haemoglobin of 54 g/L (130–180 g/L). His haemoglobin used to book the angiogram 3 months before was 143 g/L. Following angiogram, a mass was identified in the right iliac fossa and CT scan confirmed a caecal tumour. The patient ultimately underwent a curative right hemicolectomy as an outpatient. The case is a reminder of the importance of basic preangiogram investigations, in particularly a full blood count, to rule-out angina secondary to anaemia through a low haemoglobin. Most importantly, it also questions when the appropriate time is for these investigations to be carried out, prior to coronary angiography.

Background One of the most important components of suicide prevention strategies is to target people who repeat self-harm as they are a high risk group. However, there is some evidence that the incidence of repeat self-harm is lower in Asia than in the West. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of previous self-harm among a consecutive series of self-harm patients presenting to hospitals in rural Sri Lanka.Method Six hundred and ninety-eight self-poisoning patients presenting to medical wards at two hospitals in Sri Lanka were interviewed about their previous episodes of self-harm.Results Sixty-one (8.7%, 95% CI 6.7-11%) patients reported at least one previous episode of self-harm [37 (10.7%) male, 24 (6.8%) female]; only 19 (2.7%, 95% CI 1.6-4.2%) patients had made more than one previous attempt.Conclusion The low prevalence of previous self-harm is consistent with previous Asian research and is considerably lower than that seen in the West. Explanations for these low levels of repeat self-harm require investigation. Our data indicate that a focus on the aftercare of those who attempt suicide in Sri Lanka may have a smaller impact on suicide incidence than may be possible in the West.