THE SCOPE OF NEUROSURGERY FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE

Patients treated by a single neurosurgeon over a period of 17 years ha ve been reviewed in order to assess the volume and nature of neurosurg ical work performed on patients aged over 65 years. Based on this data we report: (1) The age distribution of the principal neurosurgical co nditions, drawing attention to those conditions which are over- and un der-represented in elderly patients. (2) A steady increase in the numb er of patients over 65 admitted over the last 15 years. (3) The number s and types of neurosurgical operations carried out on elderly patient s at the present time compared with 10 years ago. (4) The outcome of f irst-time surgery for intracranial meningiomas in 144 patients analyse d by age. It is clear that a large and increasing proportion of neuros urgical work is carried out on persons over the age of 65. Age by itse lf appears to be no bar to a good outcome after a major neurosurgical operation provided that the surgery is elective and is not accompanied by a diffuse neurological disturbance.