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Tricyclic Antidepressants Found in Pilots Fatally Injured in Civil Aviation Accidents
Author(s) -
Dulkadir Zeki,
Chaturvedi Arvind K.,
Craft Kristi J.,
Hickerson Jeffery S.,
Cliburn Kacey D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.13257
Subject(s) - aviation medicine , aviation accident , medicine , civil aviation , occupational safety and health , aviation , poison control , aviation safety , injury prevention , medical emergency , emergency medicine , aeronautics , engineering , pathology , aerospace engineering
Prevalence of tricyclic antidepressants ( TCA s) has not been explored in pilots. The National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) aviation accident and the Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute ( CAMI ) toxicology and medical certification databases were searched for pilots fatally injured in aviation accidents. During 1990–2012, CAMI received bio‐samples of pilots from 7037 aviation accidents. Of these, 2644 cases were positive for drugs. TCA s were present in 31. TCA blood concentrations ranged from therapeutic to toxic levels. The NTSB determined that the use of drugs and ethanol as the probable cause or contributing factor in 35% (11 of 31) of the accidents. None of the 31 pilots reported the use of TCA s during their aviation medical examination. The prevalence of TCA s in aviators was less than 0.5% (31 of 7037 cases). There is a need for aviators to fully disclose the use of medications at the time of their medical examination.