Analysis of the electrocardiograms obtained from 1000 young healthy aviators

During the course of some investigation¹ on a group of Civil Air Line pilots, the electrocardiographic findings proved to be of more than passing interest because of the relatively large number of deviations from the values generally regarded as being normal. Because of their relatively frequent occurrence in the records from apparently healthy persons, it was not easy to believe that all of these deviations declared some underlying cardiac abnormality. The opportunity to extend this study came a year later when electrocardiograms were obtained from a large number of young aviators at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. Although the primary purpose of this study is to add to our knowledge of the range of the normal electrocardiogram, some attention is also given to an appraisal of the usefulness of electrocardiography in aviation medicine.