Fen-Phen - Heart Valve Damage - Can my Mom still dive?

[triggertravel]

My Mom who will be 50 this month has heart valve damage from Fen-Phen. The last two times she was in high altitudes (not related to diving) she had to be rushed to the emergency room and one trip resulted in surgery. She is on blood pressure medication to keep her blood pressure low.

Based on a conversation she had with a friend who also has high blood pressure she feels she can dive, as long as she does not go deep.

Is it safe for my Mom to dive?

 

[scubadoc]

Hi triggertravel:

From the scant information that you have provided, it would probably be unwise for your Mom to dive - particularly since she appears to have had acute altitude sickness on two occasions.

Diving [and simple head out immersion] can cause a significant shift of blood and fluids into the lungs of normal individuals - causing acute pulmonary edema and heart failure. Someone with a significant heart valve problem, type? would be very likely to have the same difficulty.

If you can, please give us more information about your mother's problem; medications that she is taking; the hypertension situation; the "surgery" that was required with one of her altitude emergencies and anything else that you know of that might assist us in giving you an informed answer. She certainly should not base her decision to dive on a discussion with a 'friend who has hypertension'.

You'll get lots of help from highly knowledgeable doctors and experienced divers on this board if they have something tangible on which to base their opinions.