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Surgery in the Aged

  • Chapter
Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly

Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 76))

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Abstract

Elderly is defined by Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary as being “rather old, past middle age” [1]. This definition appears vague. Since there are really no means of measuring physiologic age, it is difficult to state what age signifies elderly. To add to the difficulty and confusion, particularly in regard to surgery, the definition of elderly varies from 45 years to greater than 80 years in different reports. However, most authorities today believe that people older than 65 years of age are elderly, since following this age there is a fairly rapid and constant decline in general health.

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Authors
  1. John L. Ochsner
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  2. James R. Douglas Jr.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    Franz H. Messerli

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© 1987 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Ochsner, J.L., Douglas, J.R. (1987). Surgery in the Aged. In: Messerli, F.H. (eds) Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 76. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9925-4_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9925-4_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9927-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-9925-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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