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- Title
Acute aortic dissection during scuba diving.
- Authors
Youichi Yanagawa; Hiromichi Ohsaka; Shoichiro Yatsu; Satoru Suwa
- Abstract
A 60-year-old man with hypertension and dyslipidemia complained of chest pain upon ascending from a maximum depth of 27 meters while diving. After reaching the shore, his chest pain persisted, and he called an ambulance. When a physician checked him on the doctor's helicopter, his electrocardiogram (ECG) was normal, and there were no bubbles in his inferior vena cava or heart on a portable ultrasound examination. The physician still suspected that he had acute coronary syndrome instead of decompression illness; therefore, he was transported to our hospital. After arrival at the hospital, standard cardiac echography showed a flap in the ascending aorta. Immediate enhanced computed tomography revealed Stanford type A aortic dissection. The patient obtained a survival outcome after emergency surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of aortic dissection potentially associated with scuba diving. It highlights the importance of considering aortic dissection in patients with sudden-onset chest pain during physical activity. In addition, this serves as a reminder that symptoms during scuba diving are not always related to decompression. This report also suggests the usefulness of on-site ultrasound for the differential diagnosis of decompression sickness from endogenous diseases that induce chest pain. Further clinical studies of this management approach are warranted.
- Subjects
SCUBA diving; DISSECTION; ACUTE coronary syndrome; VENA cava inferior; AORTIC dissection; COMPUTED tomography; CHEST pain; DECOMPRESSION sickness
- Publication
Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine, 2024, Vol 51, Issue 2, p185
- ISSN
1066-2936
- Publication type
Case Study
- DOI
10.22462/688