Thoracic surgery in the elderly: review of 100 cases

One hundred cases surgically intervened due to thoracic pathology between 1977 and 1986 were studied. The ages were equal to or higher than 70 years. Mean age was 73.13 years (70-91). In 70 cases a neoplastic aetiology existed (78.57% of primary bronchial carcinoma), while in the other 30 cases the cause was not neoplastic. In these cases with a high operative risk, a detailed systematic study before surgery is recommended, which should be treated in the most conservative possible way. Although the complication rate was higher than the average in other groups (p less than 0.05), mortality was only 4%, being related, to a greater or lesser extent--, to the surgery (p less than 0.05). In the cases diagnosed as bronchial carcinoma, a 2-year survival was obtained in 66.4%, 3 years in 49.8% and 5 years in 25.7%, concluding that an age equal to, or higher than, 70 years does not represent any contraindication for thoracic surgery.