Citation

Akin A, Ozturk C, Aparci M, Cakmak T, Metin S, Balta S, Sen A. Mil. Med. 2015; 180(12): 1262-1267.

Affiliation

Turkish Aerospace Medicine Center, Eskisehir, Turkey.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States)

DOI

10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00703

PMID

26633671

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pilots are exposed to various physical and hemodynamic stresses during flight. Aortic dilatation may be one of the important consequences of flight-related stress. In this study, we evaluated whether or not variation in aortic diameter was associated with the type of aircraft and the age of pilots.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of 87 jet aircraft pilots (JP) (mean age = 30.0 ± 7.0 years) and 65 non-jet aircraft pilots (NJP) (mean age = 32.63 ± 5.7) were reviewed. Echocardiographic diameters of the aortic sinus (AoS) and ascending aorta (AoAsc) were measured using standard echo probe positions.

RESULTS: Aortic diameters were not statistically different between JP and NJP. Regression analysis revealed that the diameters of the AoS (R = 0.484, R(2) = 0.234, p < 0.001) and AoAsc (R = 0.514, R(2) = 0.264, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with age in the JP group. Whereas, there was not any relationship found between age and the diameters of the AoS and AoAsc in the NJP group.

CONCLUSION: Jet pilots had aortic enlargement as they became older in contrast to the NJP group. Although the aortic diameters were not within the critical ranges in the JP group, these results could suggest that flight-related stresses might result in acute aortic syndromes in the long term.

Language: en