title: [Cardiovascular consequences of aerobic maneuvers].
abstract: Gravitational (G) stress during aerobatics flights, both military and civilian, can suddenly incapacitate pilots in agile and supermaneuverable aircrafts. High +Gz stress, up to +9Gz, has two different physiological consequences: the first is the drop in head-level blood pressure that is proportional to the G load; the other, slightly delayed, is the blood pooling in the lower part of the body and the abdomen. This blood shift results in a decreased return of venous blood to the heart, decreased cardiac output, and decreased blood pressure, leading to a likely loss of consciousness. The natural countermeasure against the effects of high G stress is the baroreceptor reflex. The human physiological tolerance to the gravito-inertial forces developed in flight operations can be increased by physiological and technological means.
authors.affiliation: Reparto Medicina Aeronautica e Spaziale, Centro Sperimentale Volo, Aeroporto Pratica di Mare (RM). pierandrea.trivelloni@aeronautica.difesa.it
authors.forename: Pierandrea
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trivelloni
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Berrettini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D000401:Aircraft; D017704:Baroreflex / Q000502:physiology*; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006112:Gravitation; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors