To fly or not to fly doctor?

The vexing question often posed of an unspepecting neurolgist is whether patients with a recent stroke, or risk of strokes, should fly.  The answer is obvious, being “only with a safe airline:))”.  However, all humour aside, this can be a difficult magaement questions.  In this must read issue of JNNP, Reynolds and colleagues grapple with this issue.  Subjects from the Carotid Occlusion Surgery Study (COSS) that travelled for a PET study to a regionla center were recruited.  While just over a thirs of the subjects exhibited ipsilateral cerebral ischemia, thankfully no events were reported (TIAs or atrokes).  So, I gues the answer must be Bon Voyage, but perhaps with an antiplatelet agent.

 

                     PLUS                      

 

                                                                                                      APPEARS TO BE OK

 

Reynolds MR, Kamath AA, Grubb RL, Powers WJ, Adams HP, Derdeyn CP; Carotid Occlusion Surgery Study Investigators.  The safety of aeroplane travel in patients with symptomatic carotid occlusion.  J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2014 Apr;85(4):435-7. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2013-306627. Epub 2013 Nov 18.

 

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