Detection Rate of Corneal Endothelial Lesions in Civil Aviation Flying Cadets

This study focuses on the detection of corneal endothelial lesions among flight students at the Civil Aviation Flight Academy of China, aiming to delve into the principles of aviation medical identification for such lesions and assess whether flight students with these conditions pose safety risks in special aviation environments. Between March 2019 and March 2024, a cluster random sampling method was employed to select 24,810 flight trainees who underwent annual physical examinations at the Flight Personnel Physical Examination and Appraisal Center of the Civil Aviation Flight Academy Hospital of China. All the trainees received comprehensive ophthalmic examinations, encompassing assessments of naked - eye far vision, near vision, color vision, extraocular muscles, slit lamp microscopy, and direct ophthalmoscopy. The examination results were then subjected to statistical analysis. The findings revealed that a total of 55 flight trainees (80 eyes) were diagnosed with corneal endothelial lesions, yielding an overall detection rate of 0.22%. Specifically, 30 trainees (37 eyes) presented with corneal endothelial opacities accompanied by vesicular changes, with a detection rate of 0.12%, while 25 trainees (43 eyes) had simple corneal endothelial opacities, showing a detection rate of 0.10%. An analysis of corneal endothelial cell count in flight trainees with corneal endothelial lesions over the past three years indicated that as the years progressed, the corneal endothelial cell count gradually declined. However, this difference was not statistically significant (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the corneal endothelial lesions observed among the civil aviation flight students at our school are all in the early stages of the disease. These students exhibit good visual function status and meet the criteria for aviation medical identification. It is recommended to implement tracking and observation of these students, along with regular checks of their visual function and corneal physiological function indicators.