Collapse therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis has become, in the last two decades, a most important measure in combating this disease. Various methods of accomplishing collapse of the lung, as well as the indications for each, have been established. With the improvement in the technic and in the results obtained, the indications have widened to include a greater number of cases. Although collapse of the lung was at first considered suitable only for unilateral cases, it is now regarded as applicable under certain conditions to bilateral cases as well.
Decker,1 in a recent communication, raises the question of the age limit, more specifically, the question of the benefits to be gained from surgical procedures in patients past 40 years of age. He presents an analysis of a group of patients whose ages ranged between 40 and 60 years. About 25 per cent of the cases were moderately advanced and the