Advising Patients with Pulmonary Diseases on Air Travel

Excerpt

Patients with diverse pulmonary disorders, with or without significant hypoxemia at ground level, have many opportunities for increased mobility and travel. These have developed from recent advances in physiologic assessments, drug therapy, oxygen delivery systems and lightweight portable oxygen units, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs with pro-active attitudes shared by patients and health care-givers. The wider physical horizons for hypoxemic pulmonary patients may also involve temporary exposures to various environmental stresses such as altitude hypoxia aboard high-flying, pressurized commercial aircraft. The report of Dillard and coworkers (1) in this issue follows two related papers (2, 3) in an earlier issue and