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In researching the aspirin/ibuprofen prevention of DCS I came across this in the 23rd Annual Meeting of the European Underwater and Baromedical Society abstracts: CARDIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. E. Schenk. Vienna, Austria. SCUBA diving requires physiological adaptation as a consequence of the increased ambient pressure, changes in partial pressure of oxygen, breathing resistance and water temperature. Cardiac arrhythmias, bradyarrhythmias (sinus node dysfunction, AV conduction disturbances) or tachyarrhythmias (with or without premature complexes) may occur during SCUBA diving. Patients with arrhythmias Lowe III/IV using a bicycle ergometer, second degree AV block (Wenckebach) or third degree AV block, bifascicular block and syncope, must not SCUBA dive. Also, patients with ischaemic heart disease. Recently, myocardial infarction during SCUBA diving was attributed as the cause of death in a 27 year old diver, with undiagnosed severe endomyocardial fibrosis and arrhythmia. Patients with systolic and diastolic murmur must have a Doppler echocardiogarphy and a Doppler flow echocardiogarphy before being allowed to dive. Valve regurgitation without hemodynamic importance during exercise requires regular echocardiography. Most patients with mitral valve problems are asymptomatic, but some might be prone to paroxysmal supraventricular or ventricular tachycardia. CONCLUSIONS: In many cases, complete medical history, conscientious inspection and examination; electrocardiogram and roentgenogram should provide evidence of any cardiological problems. Occasionally, other methods such as echocardiography will be necessary. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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