[Arteritis of the lower limbs after the age of 70. Various practical problems]

Arteritis in old age has certain features which make its treatment difficult. In this paper we underline the following points: the seriousness of amputation, not only from a functional point of view but also with regard to life itself; because of this, the justification for trying to save the limb whenever this is possible; the phenolization of the sympathetic nervous system may be indicated in an interesting way in these cases; the intermediate results of restorative arterial surgery show that good results can be achieved even when the patient is very old. So there are often real therapeutic possibilities for these patients.