[Scuba diving and the heart. Cardiac aspects of sport scuba diving]

Abstract

Diving with self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba) has become a popular recreational sports activity throughout the world. A high prevalence of cardiovascular disorders among the population makes it therefore likely that subjects suffering from cardiovascular problems may want to start scuba diving. Although scuba diving is not a competitive sport requiring athletic health conditions, a certain medical fitness is recommended because of the physical peculiarities of the underwater environment. Immersion alone will increase cardiac preload by central blood pooling with a rise in both cardiac output and blood pressure, counteracted by increased diuresis. Exposure to cold and increased oxygen partial pressure during scuba diving will additionally increase afterload by vasoconstrictive effects and may exert bradyarryhthmias in combination with breath-holds. Volumes of gas-filled body cavities will be affected by changing pressure (Figure 1), and inert gas components of the breathing gas mixture such as nitrogen in case of air breathing will dissolve in body tissues and venous blood with increasing alveolar inert gas pressure. During decompression a free gas phase may form in supersaturated tissues, resulting in the generation of inert gas microbubbles that are eliminated by the venous return to the lungs under normal circumstances. Certain cardiovascular conditions may have an impact on these physiological changes and pose the subject at risk of suffering adverse events from scuba diving. Arterial hypertension may be aggravated by underwater exercise and immersion. Symptomatic coronary artery disease and symptomatic heart rhythm disorders preclude diving. The occurrence of ventricular extrasystoles according to Lown classes I and II, and the presence of atrial fibrillation are considered relative contraindications in the absence of an aggravation following exercise. Asymptomatic subjects with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome may be allowed to dive, but in case of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia they must refrain from diving. Pacemakers will fail with increasing pressure, but some manufacturers have proven their products safe for pressure equivalents of up to 30 m of seawater, so that patients may dive uneventfully when staying within the 0-20 m depth range. Significant aortic or mitral valve stenosis will preclude diving, whereas regurgitation only will not be a problem. Right-to-left shunts have increasingly gained attention in diving medicine, since they may allow venous gas microbubbles to spill over to the arterial side of the circulation enabling the possibility of arterial gas embolism. Significant shunts thus preclude diving. The highly prevalent patent foramen ovale is considered a relative contraindication only when following certain recommendations for safe diving (Table 2). Metabolic disorders are of concern, since adiposity is associated with both, higher bubble grades in Doppler ultrasound detection after scuba dives when compared to normal subjects, and an increased epidemiologic risk of suffering from decompression illness. In conclusion, cardiovascular aspects are important in the assessment of fitness to dive, and certain cardiovascular conditions preclude scuba diving. Any history of cardiac disease or abnormalities detected during the routine medical examination should prompt to further evaluation and specialist referral.