Tests show flyers' leg clots common condition

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Researchers into economy-class syndrome tested the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of people - and found eight with blood clots.

Three long-distance travellers who volunteered for the study were told to take blood-thinning drugs for three months after clots were found in their lungs.

Another three people had clots deep in their legs, and two more had clots near the surface of their legs.

Early results of the New Zealand study were released by project leader Dr Rodney Hughes yesterday while taking blood from All Black volunteers.

The figures are likely to scare more travellers into taking blood-thinners, wearing support stockings and performing mid-air exercises to stop clots forming.

Dr Hughes and researchers from Green Lane Hospital and Otago University's Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences had tested blood from 360 people before and after long flights.

Of those, three developed clots in their lungs that were "potentially serious", though not life-threatening. Two were in pain.

The leg clots in five other people were less serious, but could also be painful.

Dr Hughes said finding eight cases out of 360 was "statistically significant", and could be likened to finding eight cases after a long flight by a Boeing 747-400.

Economy class syndrome is more accurately known as travellers' clotting or deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Researchers believe people who travel in cramped aircraft and buses are prone to poor blood circulation that can make clots form deep in their legs. The clots can break off and jam in the lungs, where they are lethal.

The All Blacks fly business class to Britain on Wednesday. More than 20 members of the squad and their management volunteered for the study.

One volunteer was team doctor John Mayhew, who said he came across two cases of travel clotting each year in his general practice.

Feature: Economy class syndrome