A chief editor inevitably comes to look at professional articles with a different eye from that of most workers on the firing line of medical activities. He looks for clarity of thought and expression; techniques of exposition and illustration that excite the reader's interest; and an engaging format. He leaves the originality of an article and its significance to his expert editorial staff. Hence when he browses in the library, he scans the rack of the current journals first with a view to finding ideas that can improve his own publication. The other day, however, I reverted to the worker's role. A special title caught my eye, "Arteriovenous Anastomoses in the Anal Region with Reference to the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Hemorrhoids" (Acta Chir Scand 139:476, 1973).
In a group of anal regions, three normal, eight with primary hemorrhoids, and six with hemorrhoids of pregnancy, the authors, Thulesius and Gjöres,