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Scuba divers need heart test
11/29/99 14:54 (New York)
(UPI Focus)
Scuba divers need heart test
By ED SUSMAN=
UPI Science News=
CHICAGO, Nov. 29 (UPI) _ Doctors recommended Monday that before
scuba
divers receive certification they should undergo a heart examination for
a common abnormality.
German doctors found evidence of brain scars among scuba divers,
particularly those who have patent foramen ovale, a common and usually
harmless heart defect found in one of four people.
``We feel testing for this heart condition with a special
ultrasound
examination should be included in the fitness-to-dive exam that people
take before being certified to scuba dive,'' said Dr. Michael Knauth, a
neuroradiologist at the University of Heidelberg Medical School.
In people who do not have the defect, Knauth explained, tiny air
bubbles that develop in the blood among divers are filtered harmlessly
out of the body. But when a person has patent foramen ovale, bubbles can
cross into the left chamber of the heart and can be pumped to the brain.
The patent foramen ovale is a connection between the chambers of
the
heart. In most people it closes after birth, but even in people in whom
it doesn't close there is no particular problem, Knauth said, unless
people engage in activities such as scuba diving when pressure can
change conditions in the heart.
The bubbles that reach the brain can cause vertigo, memory
problems
or difficulty concentrating, he said.
Knauth and colleagues examined 24 divers who experienced such
symptoms, and compared them to fellow divers. Nineteen of the 24 divers
had a large patent foramen ovale compared with three of the 14 companion
divers without symptoms. Six of the divers with the defect also had
brain lesions _ abnormalities _ recorded by magnetic resonance imaging,
while none of their companions had identifiable brain lesions.
Knauth said scuba divers spend about $3,000 in certification fees
and
for diving equipment, so an additional $200 for the ultrasound test of
their hearts should not be considered a hardship.
If a diver knows that he has a patent foramen ovale, Knauth said
there are several ways they can minimize possible problems, including
eliminating yo-yo diving _ going up and down in the water during a dive;
staying underwater for shorter periods of time and extending the time
between dives.
``It is unclear whether the brain lesions can cause long-term
problems, but common sense would tell you, if you have enough of them
and they're in the right places, they could cause problems,'' Knauth
said.
_-
Copyright 1999 by United Press International
All rights reserved
_-
-0- Nov/29/1999 14:54
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