A Guy Died on My Flight Back from Korea

dumb wrote:

If blood started spraying out of his mouth when they tried to do chest compressions he probably died of a huge, sudden GI bleed, like an ulcer or a ruptured esophageal varix.

You can have some bleeding from a blood clot (deep venous thrombosis) that travels to the lung (pulmonary embolism) and causes lung tissue to die but that's not usually the case when they're large enough to cause sudden death.

My first thought when I read the post, it was an embolism but it certainly sounds like a rupture of some sort.

Wejo, unfortunately these things happen. I'm sure it was or seemed more shocking when you see it first hand. Luckily the noise of the airplane probably blocked out any sound coming from the tragic situation.

I fly almost every week and always take the time to do a lap of the plane at some point of the flight just to get out of the seat. On longer flights to Europe or Asia, several times, especially with twin aisles, you can do this easily. At least that will help reduce the chance for DVT.

Its called economy class syndrome , sitting in a stationary position over a extended period of time. Having 1st hand experience , time in hospitals , you learn. The single biggest cause of death on airlines are embolisms , from DVT passage.

It only takes one clot to stick to cause death. The clot will stick in a plugged or partially plugged artery or a heart valve etc that is defective and unknown to the individual. If you dont have the issues as above the clots continue passing and the lungs will build fluid , you feel intense pressure on the chest when lying down. Damage is taking place at that point . CT scan shows it in the chest , x-ray confirms it , lower legs are ultrasounded to pinpoint the DVT.

Not all DVT's are felt in the lower leg as a warning , many may chalk it up as a cramp if they do feel something. Many die post flight in the hotel room or home.

Bottom line , long flights wear compression stockings its cheap insurance , drink lots of water , get up and move , flex your legs , feet etc when sitting.

Hard to argue against getting up and moving every few hours, since airplanes aren't that comfortable to begin with, but the risk of DVT only goes up with fairly prolonged immobility- 6-8 hours duration. If you are prone to clots (cancer, pregnancy, family history, or other known pro-thrombotic condition), then sure, go for the socks, or even discuss a low-dose blood thinner for the duration of the flight. In this case, who knows if was a DVT- I agree that if there was blood on the floor, more likely he had a massive internal bleed.

I've never been asked to help on a plane, but was around when they called for a doctor at an Austrian ski resort. I was with my brother (orthopedist), and I'm in an internal-medicine subspecialty, so we figured between the 2 of us we had most things covered. Unfortunately for the guy, he needed the internist. Went into cardiac arrest on the final slope into the middle-station chalet; they had an AED there and we ran a few cycles of CPR/shocks with no success. They eventually helicoptored him off the glacier, still doing CPR, but he didn't make it. Was a fit-looking 80-something-year old. Not a bad way to go, out for some early fall skiing and you get one final run. Hope I go in a similar fashion.

DVT is a big risk for travelers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_vein_thrombosis

This is why it's so important to get up and walk around and do some stretches and lunges every few hours on a plane. You'll get funny looks from the passengers but it's just not worth the risk of DVT not to do it. I read that 10% of long-flight travelers will develop an asymptomatic DVT during any given long haul flight. Now only a very small portion of these would become symptomatic and cause a problem (like pulmonary embolism) but why risk it?

Oddly enough wearing compression socks also helps prevent DVT. Hope nobody too a crap in them at the running store!

dericate rittle frower wrote:

Are you kidding me? Do you do this on car rides longer than two hours too? How about when you go see a long movie at the theater?

Just because it happened to one dude doesn't mean it's a "big risk."

From what I understand from Wikipedia yesterday the air pressure in a plane and near 0% humidity make the situation worse in the air than a car.

DVT wrote:

Its called economy class syndrome , sitting in a stationary position over a extended period of time. Having 1st hand experience , time in hospitals , you learn. The single biggest cause of death on airlines are embolisms , from DVT passage.

It only takes one clot to stick to cause death. The clot will stick in a plugged or partially plugged artery or a heart valve etc that is defective and unknown to the individual. If you dont have the issues as above the clots continue passing and the lungs will build fluid , you feel intense pressure on the chest when lying down. Damage is taking place at that point .

Well, I am very aware of pulmonary embolism and a GI bleed/rupture. I've dealt with both types in my past medical working days. The fact that Wejo mentioned blood squirting out during compressions made me believe the passenger had some sort of rupture of the clot versus blocking it. Either way, it was tragic and as runners, I do think it's important to wear compression socks/sleeves during a long flight.

Lots of things happen on airplanes....people get sick, people make babies, people meet the love (or lust) of their lives, and people die.

I am fond of saying "We are not on this earth for a long time, we are on this earth for a GOOD time." Enjoy your time on this earth, and see as much of it as you can. It's an amazing place.

Sounds like a saddle embolus to me... There are three kinds of thromboembolus: massive, major, and minor, based on size. Massive DVTs embolize up to your right heart, through the right atrium and right ventricle, and then become lodged at the bifurcation of the pulmonary arteries (like a saddle), basically blocking off all blood supply to the lung the artery supplies.

This will kill you very quickly. Here is a spiral CT scan of a saddle embolus at T4, you can see it blocking the bifurcation of the pulmonary arteries:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/107/25/e224/F2.small.gif

The guy could have also had a cardiac arrhythmia like a ventricular fibrillation, which could have also caused instant death, or a ruptured aortic aneurysm, or cerebrovascular accident. I'd put my money on a saddle embolus, though.

Get up, walk around, stretch, and take some baby aspirin on these long flights!

Sorry to hear that some guy died on a plane. That is not the way to go out. I can't imagine a dead body just sitting in the back of a plane either... what else could they really have done though. Crazy story...

Sorry you had to go through that Wejo... But believe it or not flying on an airplane is physiologically hard on the body..often people flying get blood clots and have heart attacks. My friends brother flew from east coast to west coast and formed a blood clot and died...my brothers wife formed a blood clot while flying from NJ to Florida and nearly died when she went into premature labor.. she survived the baby died...these are just a few examples... there are more from when I was in the Air Force...

awesomenews wrote:

Get up, walk around, stretch, and take some baby aspirin on these long flights!

Sounds like you are a doctor. I've got a long trip coming up on Thursday....Bangkok-Seoul-Tokyo-LAX-Reno.

What's the difference between the "baby aspirin" and the regular aspirin? Why do you suggest "baby aspirin"?

Thanks Jason

You get the same protective benefits with a baby (81mg) aspirin as a full strength (325mg). Less risk for a GI bleed, etc

666EnergyDrink wrote:

awesomenews wrote:

Get up, walk around, stretch, and take some baby aspirin on these long flights!

Sounds like you are a doctor. I've got a long trip coming up on Thursday....Bangkok-Seoul-Tokyo-LAX-Reno.

What's the difference between the "baby aspirin" and the regular aspirin? Why do you suggest "baby aspirin"?

Thanks Jason

So less risk of GI bleed with 1 baby aspirin?

There is a risk of dvt in a flight over 3 hours. So get up, move around, wear elastic stockings. Some things increase the risk like obesity, pregnancy, contraceptive pill, severe infection. Most airlines now give information on leg exercises to do during the flight

Youre right Jason, he does seem like a doctor. What about alcohol instead of aspirin? It would be more fun than taking aspirin made by babies in the child labor union, but it would also slow down your heart rate increasing the chance of pooling blood, no?

[quote]awesomenews wrote:

Get up, walk around, stretch, and take some baby aspirin on these long flights!

I am on Korean Air, Bangkok-Seoul-Tokyo-LAX on Thursday. Maybe I'll get to ride on the DEATH PLANE!!!!!!

as i've said and continue to say - flying cattle car on long haul flights will kill you!

Cool story, bro.

Please tell us if this person was a White American or not so we know whether we should feel sympathy or not.