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Choroidal structural changes in airline pilots and cabin crew

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Abstract

Purpose

To analyze the differences in terms of choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and choroidal thickness (CT) between the airline pilots–cabin crew and the normal population.

Methods

In this prospective study, 50 airline pilots–cabin crew (study group) and 50 healthy individuals (control group) were included for comparison. For each participant, one eye, the eye with the higher OCT scan score index, was enrolled. Subfoveal CT and CVI were measured using a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography system with enhanced depth imaging.

Results

There were no significant differences in terms of age and sex between the study and control groups. The mean CT was 368.5 ± 79.6 in the control group vs. 424.9 ± 80.7 in the study group (p = 0.001). CT was significantly thicker in the study group. The mean CVI was 64.3 ± 1.5 in the control group and 66 ± 3.1 in the study group (p = 0.5). There was no significant correlation between the study and control groups in terms of CVI.

Conclusion

Airline pilots–cabin crew had thicker CT, but there were no differences in CVI when they were compared with healthy subjects. The effect of unique occupational exposures of airline pilots–cabin crew to the pathophysiology of choroidal structural alterations needs further investigation.

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Acknowledgements

The study was performed in Biruni University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. The authors had full access to all the data in the study and take full responsibility for the integrity and the accuracy of the data as well as the decision to submit for publication. All authors approved the manuscript and its submission. The manuscript has not been presented in any congress or evaluated in any form by another journal.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. No payment or services have been received from a third party for any aspect of the submitted work, including design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophtalmology Department, Biruni University Hospital, Eski Londra Asftaltı No: 10 Florya, 34349, Istanbul, Turkey

    Burcu Isık & Mehmet Giray Ersoz

  2. Aero Medical Center, Biruni University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Muhammet Sedat Ofluoglu

Authors
  1. Burcu Isık
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  2. Mehmet Giray Ersoz
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Contributions

BI is the first author of this article. Designed the study: BI, MGE. Preparation of ethics forms and apply: BI. Manuscript preparation, analysis interpretation of data: BI, MGE, MSO. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: BI. Wrote the paper: BI, MGE. Collected and entered the data: BI, MGE, MSO. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehmet Giray Ersoz.

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Isık, B., Ersoz, M.G. & Ofluoglu, M.S. Choroidal structural changes in airline pilots and cabin crew. Int Ophthalmol 43, 1819–1823 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-022-02580-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-022-02580-3

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