[Causes of fatal outcomes after operations on the lungs in the elderly]

For the period from 1969 till 1978 579 elderly patients were operated for different lung diseases. The postoperative mortality was 7,4%. The postoperative mortality in elderly patients was dependent on the operation volume: after pneumonectomies it was 16,6%, bilobectomies--9,3%, lobectomies--5,8%, segmentary, wedge-shaped resections--2,6%. The mortality rate increased proportional to each five years of age of the operated patients.