Class 1 EASA (Warfarin)
 

Hello everyone, I was reading EASA Medical Rules for Class 1 and I noticed the following statement:

'Where anticoagulation is needed after valvular surgery, a fit assessment with an OML may be considered if the haemorrhagic risk is acceptable and the anticoagulation is stable. Anticoagulation should be considered stable if, within the last 6 months, at least 5 international normalised ratio (INR) values are documented, of which at least 4 are within the INR target range. The INR target range should be determined by the type of surgery performed.'

It is written after talking about valvular surgery. May you confirm me that in general, the Warfarin therapy itself is not an automatic reason to be assessed as unfit? Do you have any similar experience or do you know any pilot who had it? What do you recommend?

Thank you very much and have a nice day!

I am recently retired and had valve surgery 8 years ago and I was on Warfarin. I was an ATCO, but the rules are the same, I believe.

I had to take a reading a maximum of 12 hours before starting duty, and then every 3 days thereafter, until I finished my period of duties. I worked 6 days on and 4 off, with the last 2 days working generally being nights. To make it easier, I used 72 hours instead of 3 days. I had to buy a home testing kit and my own testing struips which were expensive (about £75 for 24, and they had an expiry date on them as well, so I bought from the manufacturer).

I had to see a cardiologist every year to check me out, and as part of this check, I had to take along my record of testing to show that it was in range. Also, I had to take it to my annual medical.

Of course, if I went out of range, I couldn't control, even though I was able to work normally. The hospital doesn't get excited if you go out of range a bit, only if a lot and for a long time. There are certain foods that you shouldn't eat, such as cranberries, basically anything high in vitamin K. Antibiotics also send it a bit wild and it does take time to bring it back in range, it's not like diabetes where you can change it very quickly, it's usually a couple of days to get back.

Hope this helps, and if I can help, let me know.

TS

Thank you very much for sharing your story. Do you suggest me to attend the Class 1 visit in the same country where I plan to get the PPL?

Wow that's poorly written with a pretty obvious loophole. Just keep testing until you get 4 good ones, even if you do 100 tests!