Results of surgery for bronchial carcinoma in patients aged 70 and over.

The number of elderly patients who are developing carcinoma of the bronchus and who are also fit for surgical treatment is increasing. One hundred patients are reviewed who had operations for this condition. The histological distribution of growths in this age group is the same as in younger patients, and the rate of growth can be just as rapid. The importance of a high resectability rate and a low mortality rate in this age group is stressed. Pneumonectomy should be performed only for the strictest of reasons, as the mortality rate is too high, but the mortality rate for lobectomy is acceptable, and this is the operation of choice.