Airplane stroke syndrome

We describe the patient, stroke, and flight characteristics. Over the study period, 131 million passengers arrived at Melbourne airport. Our centre admitted 5727 stroke patients, of whom 42 (0.73%) had flight-related strokes. Flight-related stroke patients were younger (median age 65 versus 73, p<0.001), had similar stroke severity, and received intravenous thrombolysis more often than non-flight-related stroke patients. Seven patients had flight-related intracerebral haemorrhage. The aetiology of the ischaemic strokes was cardioembolic in 14/35 (40%), including seven patients with confirmed PFO, one with atrial septal defect, four with atrial fibrillation, one with endocarditis, and one with aortic arch atheroma. Paradoxical embolism was confirmed in six patients. Stroke related to air travel is a rare occurrence, less than one in a million. Although 20% of patients had a PFO, distribution of stroke aetiologies was diverse and was not limited to PFO and paradoxical embolism.
Source: Journal of Clinical Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research