AbstractA survey of 235 elderly women (age range, 60–80+) admitted to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of a Municipal Governmental Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, revealed the following reasons for admission: postmenopausal bleeding in 117 women (50 per cent), genital prolapse in 78 women (33 per cent), and genital tumors in 40 women (17 per cent).In 48 cases, curettage and biopsy showed that bleeding was due to local proliferative changes (polyps) or diffuse changes (polyposis and hyperplasia); in 46 cases bleeding was due to atrophic degenerative changes; and in 15 cases of carcinoma of the endometrium, it was related to estrogenic stimulation. In the majority of these cases, bleeding appeared between eleven and twenty years after the menopause.Among the benign genital tumors, there were 4 cases of fibroid uterus, and 12 cases of ovarian tumor (5 functional cystic, 5 proliferative cystic, 1 endocrine thecoma type, and 1 fibroma). Three cases of malignant tumor of the ovary were all of the cystadenocarcinoma type. The patients with benign or malignant ovarian tumors complained of acute or chronic abdominal pain and postmenopausal bleeding. The other malignant tumors were: carcinoma of the cervix (3 cases), carcinoma of the vulva (2 cases), and carcinoma of the salpinx (1 case).Genital prolapse was the second leading cause of surgical intervention. In most cases the patient's age was no contraindication for surgery, and the postoperative course was no different than in younger women, when appropriate precautions were take