[Quality of life and mortality following major neurosurgical interventions in advanced age]

Mortality and quality of life was studied retrospectively in a group of 109 patients over 60 years old who had undergone a major neurosurgical operation because of vascular malformation, an acute or chronic intracranial hematoma or an intracranial tumor, were compared with a group of younger patients (n = 80) submitted to surgical treatment of the same kind of lesions, and also with a group of patients (n = 40) over 60 years old submitted to lumbar disk surgery. The overall mortality (within 2 years) was significantly higher in the group of older patients undergoing neurosurgery (52% vs. 22%), while in the group of patients submitted to lumbar dis surgery, the overall mortality (10%) corresponded to the natural mortality rate. The postoperative quality of life was improved in 70% of the surviving elderly patients after neurosurgery, in 67% of the group of younger patients and in 65% of the group of patients submitted to lumbar disk surgery. These differences are not significant.