M Silbert
403 Sea Point Medical Centre Sea Point Cape Town msilbert@mweb.co.za
To the Editor: In an article in Update, a journal for general practitioners, Singh et al.1 state that 'subcutaneous heparin and low-dose aspirin have been recommended as risk-reducing agents for air-travellers at known risk for DVT'. (It is unclear whether this implies heparin and low-dose aspirin or heparin or low-dose aspirin.) However, in an SAMJ article entitled 'The BEST Study - a prospective study to compare business class versus economy class air-travel as a cause for thrombosis', Barry Jacobson et al.2 state that the New Zealand Air Traveller's Thrombosis (NZATT) study has now reported that 'aspirin does not prevent travel-associated venous thrombosis'. This latter opinion seems a rational one in light of the fact that aspirin reduces platelet aggregation in arteriosclerotic plaques.
]]> General practitioners are frequently consulted by prospective air travellers as to whether they should use aspirin before and during a flight. The issue is clearly controversial, and it would be helpful to establish consensus. I am accordingly submitting this letter to SAMJ, which enjoys a multidisciplinary and academic readership, hoping to solicit such consensus through these columns.
1. Singh K, Burn G, Smith A. Air travel and venus thrombosis. Update 2007; XXIV (July), No. I, 74-76. [ Links ]
2. Jacobson BF, Münster M, Smith A, et al. The BEST Study - a prospective study to compare business class versus economy class air-travel as a cause of thrombosis. S Afr Med J 2003; 93: 522-528. [ Links ]
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