Hyperbaric Chamber-Related Decompression Illness in a Patient with Asymptomatic Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

Tetzlaff K, Reuter M, Kampen J, Lott C
Aviat Space Environ Med 1999; 70:594-7

Abstract

An asymptomatic 46-yr-old male sustained an acute neurologic insult, appearing during the decompression phase of a 50-m dry hyperbaric chamber dive. The right hemisyndrome was most probably related to diving, since symptoms responded rapidly to the early commenced recompression therapy. Further diagnostics revealed a previously unknown pulmonary sarcoidosis with bilateral pulmonary opacities and pleural adhesions that might have predisposed to arterial gas embolism secondary to pulmonary barotrauma. This case may illustrate a potential risk of decompression illness even during dry chamber dives in patients suffering from asymptomatic pleuro-parenchymal pulmonary disease. The value of chest X-ray in the medical assessment of fitness to dive is therefore emphasized.

Keywords: decompression illness, arterial gas embolism, pulmonary barotrauma, sarcoidosis.

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Table of Contents for Volume 70, Number 6 of the ASME journal.