Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-76/15
Title and Subtitle: The aeromedical significance of sickle-cell trait
Report Date: November 1976
Authors: McKenzie JM:
Abstract: This report present some of the technical background necessary for understanding the aeromedical importance of sickle-cell disease and the sickle-trait carrier, whose erythrocytes contain mixtures of hemoglobin S and normal hemoglobin A. This carrier state (type AS) is not limited to Negroes; it has been found, with lower frequency, in people exhibiting no evidence of African inheritance.
Reports of type AS people who died suddenly, exhibiting sickle cells at necropsy, and other reports of sickling crises in these individuals at mild altitudes, have led some authors to conclude that airmen and air passengers who are type AS are at considerable risk. Other reports, particularly those based on the flying experiences of large numbers of pilots with sickle trait, as well as on the results of experimental exposures of type AS people to simulated altitude, indicate that isolated instances of sudden death and altitude intolerance are infrequent in this genotype.
Key Words: Stress (Physiology), Hemoglobin, Aviation personnel, Sickle-cell disease, Sickle-Cell Trait, Medical Certification
No. of Pages: 19
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-76/15
Title and Subtitle: The aeromedical significance of sickle-cell trait
Report Date: November 1976
Authors: McKenzie JM:
Abstract: This report present some of the technical background necessary for understanding the aeromedical importance of sickle-cell disease and the sickle-trait carrier, whose erythrocytes contain mixtures of hemoglobin S and normal hemoglobin A. This carrier state (type AS) is not limited to Negroes; it has been found, with lower frequency, in people exhibiting no evidence of African inheritance.
Reports of type AS people who died suddenly, exhibiting sickle cells at necropsy, and other reports of sickling crises in these individuals at mild altitudes, have led some authors to conclude that airmen and air passengers who are type AS are at considerable risk. Other reports, particularly those based on the flying experiences of large numbers of pilots with sickle trait, as well as on the results of experimental exposures of type AS people to simulated altitude, indicate that isolated instances of sudden death and altitude intolerance are infrequent in this genotype.
Key Words: Stress (Physiology), Hemoglobin, Aviation personnel, Sickle-cell disease, Sickle-Cell Trait, Medical Certification
No. of Pages: 19
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012