[Coronary surgery in elderly patients]

The indication of coronary revascularization surgery in elderly people confronts the clinician and the surgeon with a particular question, in which quality of life is at least as important as prolonging life. Although age is not an intrinsic contraindication for surgery, a number of surgical risk factors are more frequent among elderly people, such as diabetes or pulmonary disease. These factors, together with the concomitant presence of aortic valvular stenosis or disease of the carotid or the peripheral arteries, must be taken into account before planning surgery. The new emerging techniques, such as transmyocardial laser revascularization can also be applied to this segment of the population.