Long-haul flights do raise DVT risk says study

CANBERRA - Long-haul air travel does increase the chance of a person suffering from deadly deep vein thrombosis (DVT) but the risk of dying in a car remains 100 times greater, says a study.

The Australian Department of Health and Ageing study found there was a small but heightened risk of developing DVT - often called the "economy class syndrome" - in the two weeks after a long-distance flight.

DVT involves the formation of blood clots, potentially up to 30cm in length, which can cause death if they invade the lungs or brain.

"The report showed that normally healthy people were at very low risk of DVT after long-haul flights while passengers with conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer or who are pregnant, would be at slightly greater risk," said Australia's chief medical officer, John Horvath.

He said the study, based on anonymous data about passenger arrivals and hospital admissions in Western Australia, found a 12 per cent increase in the background risk of suffering from DVT after travelling on one long flight a year.

"For an average middle-aged traveller, this means DVT would occur only once in 40,000 flights, with a death about once in two million flights," he said. "For young people the average risk would be much smaller."

Professor Horvath concluded that the annual risk of dying in a car accident was 100 times greater than the extra risk of dying from complications of DVT after a long-haul flight.

However, he said airlines and prospective passengers should be alerted to the findings of the study, which provided a significant contribution to public health information and policy development.

During court action, victims have blamed cramped aircraft cabins for their blood clots and argued that airlines have known of the risks for years but failed to warn people.

A British court agreed with the airlines, which claimed DVT was not an accident.

If a passenger was struck down with the condition on a routine flight the carrier could not be blamed.

DVT made headlines and airlines came under pressure to do more to prevent the condition after a 28-year-old British woman died from the condition about three years ago following a 20-hour flight from Australia to London.

- REUTERS


DVT symptoms

* Tenderness and warmth in one leg.

* Mild fever.

* Pitting oedema (extra fluid in the legs - when the area is pressed a dent is left in the leg).

* One leg swollen up to 3cm more than the other leg.

* Rapid heartbeat.

* Sudden coughing.

* Joint pain.