Heart disease and fitness to fly

Cardiovascular indications for medical oxygen during commercial airline flights

For those with cerebral arterial insufficiency, supplementary oxygen may be advisable to prevent hypoxia. Clinical judgement has an important role in the individual assessment of fitness to fly. However, some cardiovascular contraindications to flight are shown in Table below:

Also (2):

• Pacemaker or defibrillator implantation
  • accept as fit to fly if >=2 days since procedure if no pneumothorax and rhythm is stable. In the event of a pneumothorax, flying should be deferred for 2 weeks following complete resolution
    
    
• Ablation therapy
  • accept as fit to fly if >= 2 days since procedure
  • note that patient flying within a week of the procedure is considered at high risk of DVT
    
    
• deep vein thrombosis
  • fit to fly if asymptomatic and stable on anticoagulant therapy

For up to date advice then check current guidance (1,2).

See linked items below for more details.

Note that these are only guidelines and each airline has its own regulations and medical standards.

Reference:

• Civil Aviation Authority. Fitness to Fly (Accessed 1/8/19)
• International Air Transport Association. Medical Manual 11th Edition (2018).