Pilots' ECGs unrelated to COVID vaccination

Alleged discoveries or evidence about supposedly bad consequences of the Covid-19 vaccines regularly circulate online. Now the US aviation authority FAA is said to have measured unusual changes in pilots' electrocardiograms (ECGs), according to various Facebook posts.

The starting point for the claim is an American blog post. This quotes from an amendment to the guidelines for aeromedical experts. According to the author, the PQ maximum value, which can indicate possible cardiac arrhythmias, was “strongly expanded”. This change was made after the introduction of the corona vaccination and is intended to allow higher PQ values ​​for pilots in the event of side effects without them being classified as a health risk. For this reason, the increase in the PQ value is evidence that there have been increased side effects from the corona vaccination.

FAA: “No evidence”

According to the FAA, it is not true that the ECG limits were relaxed because otherwise many pilots would no longer be allowed to fly. “The FAA has no evidence of aviation accidents or problems caused by pilots allegedly suffering from medical complications related to Covid-19 vaccines,” an FAA spokesman told the German press agency.

Pilots in the USA require a medical certificate

Pilots operating scheduled commercial flights a medical certificate in the United States To do this, they must be examined . In the course of this investigation, the focus will be on, among other things, the pilots' eyesight and mental state. In addition, from the age of 35, an electrocardiogram (ECG) is taken for the first time as a baseline value, which is then repeated every year from the age of 40.

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Claim of change incorrect

Furthermore, the change cited in the blog entry does not apply to all heart diseases that can be diagnosed with an ECG. Instead, a number of heart diseases are still being studied in detail - these include, for example, various cardiac arrhythmias. The procedure for any type of cardiac arrhythmia is clearly defined by the FAA.

Contrary to what is claimed, the change in Pilto's examinations only applies to first degree atrioventricular block (AVB) In this cardiac arrhythmia, electrical conduction to the heart chambers is delayed. It mainly occurs in older people, but can also occasionally affect athletes. According to the Heart Foundation, this is the most harmless variant of AV block.

A possible AVB is determined by measuring the so-called PQ interval. It measures the time in which the electrical wave is conducted from the atrium into the ventricle. This information is quantified in milliseconds (ms). Studies show that a PQ interval greater than 200 ms indicates first-degree atrioventricular block. The blog post also refers to this.

Change announced in October 2022

Regarding AVB, there was actually a mandated change to the PR interval described in the US Federal Aviation Administration's Medical Examiner's Guide. The now archived guide from July 2022 shows on page 86 that first degree AV block is mentioned without further information. Accordingly, on the one hand, the diagnosis must be documented and, on the other hand, additional tests must be carried out if necessary. So only if evidence of functional or structural heart disease is found will the case be forwarded to the FAA. A decision will then be made as to whether the pilot can continue to be issued a medical certificate.

Regarding the change in the PQ value in October last year, the threshold for first-line AV block was redefined. A distinction is made between:

• AV block with a PQ interval of up to 300 ms
• AV block with a PQ interval of over 300 ms

Below the threshold, the follow-up action is similar to before. An interval greater than 300 milliseconds now requires more testing to be performed and the FAA to be notified by default.

Expert initiated change – no connection to Covid

As the FAA reports, the increase to 300ms was introduced by an expert. to the dpa : “Our cardiology consultants have provided information that shows that anything below 300 ms does not require further testing. It was also found that this poses no risk of sudden or subtle restrictions.” The change therefore has nothing to do with possible side effects of a corona vaccination.

Although further testing is not required immediately in this case, first-line AV block below 300 ms should continue to be reported.

Changes were made public – not kept

Each current version of the Guide is published and receives a number of changes and updates, which are communicated in a dedicated list. In this case, the change in categories in the case of first degree AV block was just one of them.

A change to certain limit values ​​or something similar is communicated by the authority and is not - as claimed - secret.

Conclusion

In general, the FAA publicly announces changes to the medical guidelines for pilots; these are not kept secret.

There is also no fundamental change as claimed. Only in cases of mild cardiac arrhythmia were subcategories added on the recommendation of cardiologists. However, this change is unrelated to the corona vaccination.

Source:

DPA

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