The nineties have been characterized by a reappraisal of allocating expenditure for health care interventions. Coronary artery bypass in the elderly has emerged as an example of burgeoning expensive surgery whose appropriateness is under challenge. This book comprises the proceedings of an international symposium where world renowned leaders in aspects such as health economics, ethics, clinical cardiology, cardiac surgery, epidemiology, and health care policy discussed the need and outcome of the operation in old and very old patients. No other book has hitherto addressed this increasingly quoted intervention in debate on the right to health care for the elderly citizen. Clinical issues and operative results complement national costs and quantitated benefits in terms of quality of life as a justification for surgery. The book is addressed to cardiologists, geriatricians, cardiac surgeons, psychiatrists, rehabilitation physicians and public health care administrators.