In 1909 a short contribution entitled "Geriatrics" was published in the New York Medical Journal. According to this article, old age represents a distinct period oflife in which the physiologic changes caused by aging are accompanied by an increasing number of pathologic changes. We now know that the organs of the body age neither at the same rate nor to the same extent and that physiologic alterations are indeed superimposed by pathologic changes; as a result of the latter phenomenon the origins and course of illnesses in the elderly can present unusual characteristics. The frequency of...

Volume 3 of this series is concerned with geriatric aspects of surgical specialties: gynecology, orthopedics, general surgery, otorhinolaryn gology, and ophthalmology. Closely associated with these specialties is anesthesiology. Dermatology has an intermediate position between surgical and nonsurgical fields. The peculiarities of physiological and pathological aging of otgans and the consequences for diagnosis and therapy - presented in the first two volumes - are of great significance, especially for surgical special ties. There are a large number of pre-, intra-, and postoperative problems...