Deep-Vein Thrombosis and Air Travel: Is There a Connection?
Posted By Divers Alert Network on 1 August 2007
By Wesley Hyatt, DAN Communications
Generally, deep-vein thrombosis is not fatal. In this condition, a thrombus, or blood clot, forms when blood pools in the deep veins of the calf or the thigh after prolonged periods of remaining in the same position. However, a clot that breaks off and moves into the lungs or heart can block circulation and kill a person. Pain, redness, swelling and tender leg muscles can signal DVT. But it can occur with no warning signs or symptoms.
In January 1999, Brad Perkins, his wife Karen, their daughter and son flew overnight from San Jose, Calif., to Miami, Fla., on the first leg of what Brad estimated was 10 hours total of flying time to a diving location off Belize.
"My guess is she developed it on the red-eye flight," said Brad. "It" was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition Brad attributes as the cause of Karen's death a day after the plane ride. Like many travelers on overnight cross-country flights, she stayed in her seat and drank nothing, factors that contribute in developing DVT.
In DVT, a blood clot forms when blood pools in the deep veins of the calf or the thigh, the result of a person remaining in the same position for an extended period. Perkins believes his wife suffered a blood clot that broke off and moved into the heart or the lungs.
The Perkinses changed planes in Miami for the three-hour flight to Belize and then caught a passenger plane to their dive site off Belize. The next morning Brad, Karen and their son went scuba diving.
Amid rough currents at the descent line, Karen Perkins joined her husband and son in the water. She kicked to maintain her balance on the line when, her husband believes, a clot that formed in her leg during the flight went through her bloodstream and stopped her circulation. She gasped for air. "She hadn't even put the regulator in her mouth," Perkins said. "Karen's eyes rolled back before the crew brought her on board."
The divemaster alerted them to abort their dive. "By the time I and my son got back up, she was on deck getting CPR," Perkins said. "Karen died shortly thereafter."
"When she died, we didn't know what happened. We guessed a heart attack, because she had gone quickly and had been in good shape. The autopsy in Belize couldn't find the cause. There was no sign of heart attack or stroke in her autopsy."
A few months later Karen Perkins' parents, both doctors, heard from a colleague about the belief in a connection between DVT and extended plane travel. They and Brad Perkins now think her death was a result of that condition, often called "economy-class syndrome" and "coach-class syndrome."
- Bookmark with :
- what are these?
