Chest
Diving and Chronic Spontaneous Pneumothorax
Section snippets
CASE REPORT
This diver is a 28-year-old white man, athletic, 178 cm tall, and weighing 76 kg. His medical history is unremarkable, as is his family's. He has been a diving instructor for ten years. Normally, he does not smoke.
However, on the evening of February 20, 1983, he tried to smoke a large cigar. Immediately after the first puff, he coughed heavily, after which he felt a moderate pain in the midchest. From February 21 to March 27, he made about two dives a day. But the pain in his chest persisted
DISCUSSION
A history of spontaneous pneumothorax is a contraindication for diving.2,3 Most of these patients suffer from pulmonary pathology, usually subpleural emphysematous blebs or bullae.4 The recurrence rate is high: 33 percent in five years according to Edmonds et al,5 an average of 20 percent to 30 percent according to Kizer3 or 50 percent according to Saunders and Ingram.6 This high recurrence rate is the main reason for prohibiting further diving. The possibility of diving after traumatic
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Selection of divers: examination and physical standards
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Pressure
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Pathogenesis of spontaneous pneumothorax
Chest
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Cited by (22)
Spontaneous Pneumothorax
2021, Encyclopedia of Respiratory Medicine, Second EditionBreathing at depth: Physiologic and clinical aspects of diving while breathing compressed gas
2005, Clinics in Chest MedicineInfluence of atmospheric pressure, outdoor temperature, and weather phases on the onset of spontaneous pneumothorax
2005, Annals of EpidemiologyCitation Excerpt :Once this communication is disrupted, these cysts become isolated from the surrounding lung tissue, changing their morphology according to Boyle-Marriott's law (P × V = const.), i.e., a fall in AP causes an increase in their volume (1). Although the morphology and ultrastructure of causative lesions in primary SP are well known, the reason for rupture of air-containing cysts is not absolutely clear (2).
Pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum
2004, Clinics in Sports Medicine