Medical assessment of kidney diseases on 9 pilots and literatures review

Abstract

Objective To investigate the invasion characteristics of kidney diseases on pilot, consultation experiences as well as medical assessment and put forward the corresponding countermeasures. Methods Medical records of 9 kidney disease cases, which were diagnosed by our medical department of hospital from June 2005 to May 2008, and the cases of hospitalized pilots during this period were reviewed. Results ① Among all pilots, aged from 25 to 40 years old, three sorts of kidney diseases were diagnosed as primary kidney glomerular disease (glomerulopathy), urinary tract deformity and kidney calculi. ② The incidence of the kidney diseases was 14.9‰ in all hospitalized pilots. Among these cases, 4 were primary glomerular disease, 3 were urinary tract deformity and 4 were kidney calculi; 2 pilots simultaneously had two sorts of kidney diseases. ③ Primary glomerular diseases caused high grounding rate. The pilots with urinary tract deformity were diagnosed as non-severe disease in adulthood and were qualified for flying. Qualification was also respectively evaluated to single and double seat aircraft pilots who had urinary calculus removed and who had calculus but with stable condition and no obvious symptom. The pilots who were suffering from active calculus were imposed to be temporarily grounded. The assessments for above 9 cases were concluded as: 2 glomerulonephritis pilots were disqualified (one of them was concomitant kidney calculi); 2 were temporary grounded, 1 for syndrome and 1 for simplex kidney calculi; the rest 5 were qualified, and 2 of them were restricted to fly double seat aircraft due to their kidney calculi state. Conclusions Primary kidney glomerular disease, urinary tract deformity and kidney calculi are not infrequent kidney diseases in pilots and these would become the potential risk to flying. It is suggested that to pay more attention on diagnosing and treating of the diseases and to invest on further study. Key words: Kidney diseases; Glomerulonephritis; Nephrotic syndrome; Kidney calculi; Eligibility determination