With the development of surgical techniques which allow correction of most congenital heart defects the opportunity to study the natural history of these lesions is being lost. Geriatric units are possible sources of instances of long-term survivals. Two cases of cyanotic congenital cardiac disease are reported from a geriatric unit. One patient with the tetralogy of Fallot who survived to the age of 68 years is believed to be the oldest woman whose case has been reported. The other patient who survived to 71 years had the trilogy of Fallot. A review is made of previous reports of survival beyond the age of 40 years of patients with these conditions.