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Vitreous Fluid and/or Urine Glucose Concentrations in 1335 Civil Aviation Accident Pilot Fatalities *
Author(s) -
Chaturvedi Arvind K.,
Botch Sabra R.,
Canfield Dennis V.,
Forster Estrella M.
Publication year - 2009
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/j.1556-4029.2009.01011.x
Subject(s) - urine , medicine , diabetes mellitus , hemoglobin , aviation accident , glycosuria , civil aviation , urinary system , aviation , endocrinology , engineering , aerospace engineering
During aviation accident investigations, vitreous fluid and urine samples from pilot fatalities are analyzed for glucose and blood for hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) to monitor diabetic pilots and to discover other pilots with undiagnosed/unreported diabetes. The prevalence of elevated glucose concentrations in fatally injured pilots was evaluated by searching the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute’s Toxicology Database for the period 1998–2005. Out of 1335 pilots involving 363 vitreous fluid, 365 urine, and 607 vitreous fluid and urine analyses, 43 pilots had elevated glucose in vitreous fluid (>125 mg/dL) and/or in urine (>100 mg/dL). Of the 20 pilots whose blood samples were analyzed, nine had >6% HbA 1c —four were known diabetics, and five were unknown diabetics. Urinary glucose levels were elevated in all 13 known hyperglycemic pilots. A considerable number of pilots (30 of 43) had elevated glucose and HbA 1c (5 of 20), suggesting undiagnosed/unreported diabetic conditions.