Results of Neurosurgical Treatment in Older Patients with Intracranial and Spinal Tumors. Problems of the Pre-Operative Risks

Abstract

Neurosurgical operations in older patients are burdened with a relatively high postoperative mortality. Therefore it seemed worthwhile to review the records of older patients in a retrospective evaluation and to search for findings of cerebral origin or of accompanying diseases, that would correlate with this high postoperative mortality. The knowledge of statistically identifiable risks may either stimulate one to devise adequate measures against them, or it may help to define more precisely the indications or contraindications for operative treatment.