Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . International medical experts and officials from 16 major airlines across the globe on Tuesday heard a leading expert on deep vein thrombosis link the condition to most types of travel. Organized by the World Health Organization's cardiovascular disease unit, the closed-door meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, began Monday and concluded Tuesday. Studies have shown it is a common travel problem. Scurr is a surgeon at Middlesex and University College Hospital in London, England.
Physicians say the condition is still rare, however.
Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the United Nations health agency, called the two-day meeting significant. We've come to this with an open mind. Deep vein thrombosis, also called traveler's thrombosis and DVT, has been linked to the low mobility fostered by long-haul flights and other forms of protracted travel in cramped spaces, such as automobile, bus and train trips. The clots could break off and travel to the lungs, brain or heart, possibly causing heart attack and stroke. The condition has been blamed for at least 30 deaths in three years at just one hospital in London, England.