Bubble arterialisation: PFO and pulmonary shunts
Madden, D.; Dujic, Z; Germonpré, P. (2017). Bubble arterialisation: PFO and pulmonary shunts, in: Balestra, C. et al. The science of diving. Things your instructor never told you. pp. [180-195] In: Balestra, C.; Germonpré, P. (2017). The science of diving. Things your instructor never told you. Lambert Academic Publishing/Éditions Acrodacrolivres: Villers-la-Ville. ISBN 978-2-512007-36-4. [262] pp., more |
| Authors | | Top | - Madden, D.
- Dujic, Z
- Germonpré, P., more
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| Abstract | Decompression sickness (DCS) is the most feared complication of SCUBA diving, partly because, no matter how sophisticated the dive computer, it can never be completely prevented. Also, it proves to be extremely difficult to predict DCS, and at best, a "statistical probability" is all we can define. Obviously, decompression sickness, caused by nitrogen (or other inert gas) bubbles locally expanding in tissues or blocking the blood stream by their presence in the vasculature (the blood vessels), is caused by “inefficient desaturation”. For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to “inert gas bubbles” as “nitrogen bubbles” in the text below. Whereas nitrogen bubbles in the venous system appear to be frequent after diving, in some cases they can be observed in the arterial system. These arterialised bubbles can give rise to specific forms of DCS, and it is therefore important to understand how and why this “arterialisation” occurs. |
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