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©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Clinical diagnosis, treatment, and medical identification of specific pulmonary infection in naval pilots: Four case reports
Jia Zeng, Guo-Li Zhao, Jia-Cheng Yi, Dan-Dan Liu, Yan-Qing Jiang, Xiang Lu, Yan-Bing Liu, Fei Xue, Jie Dong
Jia Zeng, Dan-Dan Liu, Yan-Qing Jiang, Xiang Lu, Yan-Bing Liu, Fei Xue, Department of Aviation Disease, Naval Medical Center of PLA, Shanghai 200052, China
Guo-Li Zhao, Department of Radiology, Naval Medical Center of PLA, Shanghai 200052, China
Jia-Cheng Yi, Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, Hebei Province, China
Jie Dong, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Naval Military Medical University, Shanghai 200081, China
Author contributions: Zeng J and Zhao GL contributed equally to this work; Zeng J and Dong J designed the research; Zeng J, Yi JC, Liu DD, Jiang YQ, Lu X, Liu YB, and Xue F collected and analyzed the clinical data; Zeng J, Yi JC, and Zhao GL wrote the manuscript; Zeng J and Dong J revised the manuscript.
Supported by Key Project of Medical Service Scientific Research of Navy Medical Center, No. 20M2302.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patients for the publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Jie Dong, MBBS, Associate Chief Nurse, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Naval Military Medical University, No. 15 Dongjiangwan Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai 200081, China. tungj@qq.com
Received: December 8, 2021
Peer-review started: December 8, 2021
First decision: January 10, 2022
Revised: January 11, 2022
Accepted: March 6, 2022
Article in press: March 6, 2022
Published online: June 6, 2022
BACKGROUND
Specific pulmonary infection could seriously threaten the health of pilots and their companions. The consequences are serious. We investigated the clinical diagnosis, treatment, and medical identification of specific pulmonary infections in naval pilots.
CASE SUMMARY
We analyzed the medical waiver and clinical data of four pilots with specific pulmonary infections, who had accepted treatment at the Naval Medical Center of Chinese People’s Liberation Army between January 2020 and November 2021, including three cases of tuberculosis and one of cryptococcal pneumonia. All cases underwent a series of comprehensive treatment courses. Three cases successfully obtained medical waiver for flight after being cured, while one was grounded after reaching the maximum flight life after being cured.
CONCLUSION
Chest computed tomography scanning should be used instead of chest radiography in pilots’ physical examination. Most pilots with specific pulmonary infection can be cured and return to flight.
Core tip: Pilots are mostly young without underlying medical conditions; thus, the rate of lung infection is low. Lack of characteristic clinical manifestations of specific pulmonary infection can lead to misdiagnosis and delay treatment. Specific lung infection aggravates pilots’ health, and causes spread of pathogens in air forces. Chest computed tomography (CT) should be used instead of radiography for annual physical examination. When pilots are diagnosed with specific lung infection, related tests and CT should be used to screen the same camp to prevent further infections. After active treatment, most pilots with specific pulmonary infection can be cured and return to flight.
