[-Surgical occlusion of persistent ductus arteriosus in advanced age--determining indications based on 3 case reports-].

We present three cases of a surgical approach to close a patent ductus arteriosus in the elderly. In each case a transcatheter closure was not indicated for different reasons: Patient No. 1 had an extremely calcified aortic arch; Patient No. 2 was operated on under the erroneous diagnosis of an aortopulmonary window; Patient No. 3 concomitantly suffered a high-grade valvular aortic stenosis. The patent ductus arteriosus was closed transpulmonally via a median sternotomy under the conditions of extracorporal circulation in each of the three patients. Patient No. 3 additionally underwent an aortic valve replacement. We discuss the differential indications for a surgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus in the elderly.