Has anyone heard of a condition in which a diver's right atrium (heart chamber) enlarges as a result of diving?
atrial enlargement
- Thread starter SeaKat
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
can you give more details, what´s the meaning of "result of diving"; while diving, because of DSC...? + enlarges: the volume or the thickness?
for now it sounds weard
for now it sounds weard
OP
Yeah, it does sound wierd, doesn't it? Apparently in some cases, the enhanced pressure of returning blood to the heart causes enlargement in the right atrium, which is forced to work a little harder as a result, or so one source told me. This is not, however, analagous to the "athlete's heart" which is enlarged all over. However, another source (these were both clinicians) said he'd never heard of such a thing. The first source said it was a very rare condition, most often occurring in tec divers who had a lot of deep dive time, and can, eventually, result in some additional cardiac problems (arythmias, etc) .
So, I'm here, asking if anyone has ever heard of and/or experienced this phenomenon personally.
So, I'm here, asking if anyone has ever heard of and/or experienced this phenomenon personally.
I've never heard of such a thing despite diving for thirty years and spending 20 of those years as a cardiologist!
You can definitely have "atrial enlargement" (left atrial , right atrial, or both) from a multitude of causes but diving is not one of them.
You can definitely have "atrial enlargement" (left atrial , right atrial, or both) from a multitude of causes but diving is not one of them.
OP
Thanks Debersole. A DAN cardiologist agrees with you. A DAN technician, however, said that it occurred, albeit very rarely, in deep divers. So it's two to one against.
Similar threads
