Total anomalous pulmonary venous return is a condition where the veins returning blood to the heart from the lungs do not empty correctly into the arterial circulation. Children born with the condition do not usually survive or do well at all unless they also have an open atrial septal defect or patent foramen ovale. This...

Even if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, asthma, or heart disease and need an oxygen supply, you should be able to travel so long as you consult closely with your physician and then follow the advice received.For COPD patients, whose main problem is moving air in and out...

Patients who have had successful coronary bypass surgery or angioplasty who wish to undertake sport diving should be allowed to participate in this activity. Those applicants wanting to do commercial or military diving should not be approved. In arriving at the proper conclusion a careful review of coronary anatomy, degree of vascularization, and exercise tolerance...

Long QT Interval Syndrome Certain types of medications may put divers at risk for a dangerous cardiac rhythm. A study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Ackerman, M, et al. Mayo Clin.Proc. 74:1088, 1999) identified an abnormality in the heart electrical system that puts swimmers and divers at risk for sudden death. The inherited disorder...

Note: This material should be copied and taken to your physician for his review. This material should not be used as a basis for treatment decisions, and is not a substitute for professional consultation and/or peer-reviewed medical literature. CONDUCTION ABNORMALITIES AND PACEMAKERS Patients with conduction system abnormalities normally demonstrate evidence of cardiac disease as the...

PFO (Patent foramen ovale) is a persistent opening in the wall of the heart which did not close completely after birth (opening required before birth for transfer of oxygenated blood via the umbilical cord). This opening can cause a shunt of blood from right to left , but more often there is a movement of...

‘Floppy valve’ There are thousands of divers with mitral valve prolapse who don’t even know they have the condition — and to be fair, most don’t really have a problem. Mitral valve prolapse is a fairly common medical problem that is controversial and causes confusion among both physicians and those who suffer from it. Among...

Patients that have valvular or some form of congenital heart disease have an excess strain situation that is particularly susceptible to the effects of increased exercise and blood shifting intoo the heart and lungs due to water immersion.The presence of an abnormality per se is not a contraindication to diving. In the case of intracardiac...

Dive if Hypertension is Well-controlled If you have mild, well-controlled hypertension with none of it’s complications, you have nothing to worry about if you are diving or plan to dive. Well-controlled hypertension means a pressure of less than 145/90 (160/95, BSAC) and complications of hypertension include renal failure, eye problems, coronary disease. Because divers with...

Guidelines to use in considering the relationships between all drugs and diving: Consider the condition/illness/disease for which the medication is being given. Go to our ‘Fitness to Dive’ web page and check to see if your condition could be dangerous underwater. Are there any effects of the drug that alter consciousness or cause alteration in...

As divers become older, they become subject to the diseases of aging as we all do, developing atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), arthritis, cancer and lead a more sedentary life, particularly men. It seems inevitable that all older divers get coronary artery disease to a certain extent and this raises questions regarding their continued participation...

Work and Exercise Diving can effect the heart and blood vessels mainly by the amount of exercise involved. Exercise produces a need for increased oxygen to produce increased activity, and the heart and circulation are affected in some way by any form of exercise. In diving, the circulatory system is affected by several forces acting...