Collapsed Lung Underwater

[Stone]

DESTIN, Fla. -- A congenital lung condition that is seldom deadly on land is blamed for the death of an Oklahoma woman while scuba diving off the Florida coast.
Shannon Cloar of Ada lost consciousness in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and died a short time later at a local hospital.

Medical examiner Doctor Gary Cumberland says Cloar had an abnormal air sac called an emphysema bleb that burst in one of her lungs. He says because Cloar was under water, the water pressure collapsed her lung and she wasn't able to breath from her scuba tank.

Cumberland said this happens often to people walking around, causing shortness of breath that is usually cured after a visit to the emergency room.

Isn't it likely that the lung collapsed solely from the burst emphysema bleb?

 

[Genesis]

but consider this Stone...

The burst belb releases gas into the chest, and the lung partially (or totally) collapses.

You still have one lung, right? So you can (kinda) breathe, but its not easy, because some of the air exchange takes place into the chest cavity rather than into the air sacs where it does you some good.

Now you ascend. As you ascend the air in your chest cavity expands. Oh oh. As you come up the increased volume of air collapses the OTHER lung, impacts on the heart or arteries, and generally puts pressure on the other things in your chest that have to work for you to live.

It would be bad on the surface, but underwater, the consequences of the ascent you must make (eventually, if not immediately) could easily be fatal.

 

[Epinephelus]

The lung with a burst bleb acts much like a whoopie cushion - the air can get out of the lung into the pleural cavity, but can't get back into the collapsed lung. It is this expanding air that crowds out the other lung and crushes the bronchi, trachea and blood vessels on ascent - not a good thing at all, and, as was the case here, often fatal.
On the surface a pneumothorax is reduced by punching a hole in the chest wall and extracting the air. I suppose if you had a doc aboard who had a very large syringe handy and was willing to make the underwater diagnosis you could do this underwater and bleed the air off as you ascended, but that's a stretch...
That's why a history of spontaneous pneumothorax is a contraindication to diving.
E.

 

[rmediver2002]

When the bleb ruptered it would allow air to escape the lung and enter the intrapleural space.

Within this space, a pnuemothorax could have either continues to allow air to escape the lung and expanded until the point were it collapsed the lung.

Even if the escape of air was a single event if it occured on the bottom as the diver ascended the trapped air would also expand, in this case to the point of collapsing the lung.

The water pressure alone would not cause the lung to collapse, but this is more than likely a misunderstanding on the reporters part as most newspapaer articles about diving seem to contain errors of this type...(in my experience anyway...)

Jeff Lane

 

[Epinephelus]

rmediver2002 once bubbled...
The water pressure alone would not cause the lung to collapse, but this is more than likely a misunderstanding on the reporters part as most newspaper articles about diving seem to contain errors of this type

Jeff, there is one thing you can bet on with absolute certainty. Whenever there is a diving or flying accident, the newspukes will get it wrong. Every time. Without exception.
E.

 

[Genesis]

The press NEVER gets it right - it doesn't matter what the subject is.

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear SCUBA SOURCE Readers:

Pneumothorax

This is a truly sad event that can occur but is fortunately not very common. On land, it is referred to as a spontaneous pneumothorax as mentioned above.

In theory, it could have been treated underwater, but I truly doubt that the necessary materials would be on hand. In Hawaii, the ichthyologist Richard Pyle would bring along a syringe and needle to remove air from the swim bladders of fish at about 125 fsw. He knew in advance what to do.

Collapsing an air space in the chest would be a feat underwater in a human diver.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[clownfish301]

I had a case of spontaenous pneumothorax about 7-8 years ago.

I'm about to get a complete physical before I get certified this month, but should I even consider diving because of my past medical history?

Now I'm kinda worried.

 

[Genesis]

Call DAN and get a referral to a DIVING physician. You need to find out, if possible, why it happened the first time and if there is a risk of it happening again.

If you have it happen again while underwater, it is VERY likely to kill you.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Dr Deco once bubbled...
Dear SCUBA SOURCE Readers:

Pneumothorax

This is a truly sad event that can occur but is fortunately not very common. On land, it is referred to as a spontaneous pneumothorax as mentioned above.

In theory, it could have been treated underwater, but I truly doubt that the necessary materials would be on hand. In Hawaii, the ichthyologist Richard Pyle would bring along a syringe and needle to remove air from the swim bladders of fish at about 125 fsw. He knew in advance what to do.

Collapsing an air space in the chest would be a feat underwater in a human diver.

Dr Deco :doctor:

Doc,

I would have to say a very strong AMEN to that last! We did that in DMT training, and it was not easy in the lab. It would be nearly impossible underwater, even if one were prepared as Richard Pyle is because of his work with fish!