B. Cheung et J. Duflou, Pre-existing pulmonary thromboembolic disease in passengers with the "economy class syndrome", AVIAT SP EN, 72(8), 2001, pp. 747-749
Citations number
14
Categorie Soggetti
Envirnomentale Medicine & Public Health","Medical Research General Topics
Background: Pulmonary emboli, which have occurred in association with air t
ravel, in the past have been thought to have arisen from deep venous thromb
oses (DVT) which formed during the flight. Hypothesis: This study was perfo
rmed to test the idea that not all pulmonary emboli which occur following a
ir travel are the result of inflight DVT formation. Methods. Fourteen cases
of fatal "economy class syndrome" were examined histologically to determin
e the age of the fatal thromboemboli. Results: In 5 of the cases, evidence
of pre-existing pulmonary thromboembolic disease was present and in 4 of th
ese cases the fatal thromboemboli observed in the lung tissue pre-dated the
flight. Fresh perimortem thrombus without evidence of organization or hemo
siderin deposition was observed in 9 cases. Conclusions, The commonly held
pathological mechanism that the conditions of the flight lead to DVT format
ion and subsequent pulmonary embolism are not applicable in all cases of,ec
onomy class syndrome" and thus other pathophysiological mechanisms must be
entertained.