The elderly amputee with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Case reports.

The case reports describe three elderly amputees with coexisting severe COPD. All three successfully mastered their prostheses and were discharged home able to walk functional distances. This demonstrates that these patients deserve a trial period of rehabilitation in a situation where close medical supervision and optimal medical management are available. Two of our cases died within 5 years, indicating the fragility and poor long-term prognosis of these patients; the third was lost to follow-up.