Acute pulmonary embolism following air travel.

Pulmonary embolism in travellers has been described (Beighton and Richards, 1968; Horsley, Smail and Thould, 1975; Symington and Stack, 1977), but only occasionally has it been associated with travel by air. Increase in air travel, longer flights and the carriage of passengers who are unfit may cause this event, now rare but probably underdiagnosed, to occur more often. Cardiovascular morbidity following air travel was reviewed by Beighton and Richards (1968), and arterial thrombosis following air travel has recently been reported (Collins, Field and Castleden, 1979). We describe 3 cases of acute pulmonary embolism in air travellers admitted to this hospital which is one that serves London Airport (Heathrow).