title: Echocardiographic and color flow Doppler findings in military pilot applicants.
abstract: This report details the findings of 1476 Canadian Forces pilot candidates screened with echocardiography and Doppler. All candidates had previously been medically screened at a recruiting center. We found 115 (7.8%) to have disqualifying findings. Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) was the most common (4.8%). Other abnormalities included aortic regurgitation (2.3%), bicuspid aortic valve (0.9%), left ventricular hypertrophy, asymmetric septal hypertrophy, and atrial septal defect (< 0.05%). Of the 71 candidates found to have mitral valve prolapse, 40 had positive clinical findings on careful auscultation. Echocardiography is a safe, cost-effective tool for screening candidates for military pilot training. Normative data on this population agree well with published norms.
authors.affiliation: Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, North York, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Salisbury
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gulino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D002170:Canada; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D005260:Female; D006351:Heart Valves / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel