port-a-cath

[miguel sanz]

Hello Dr. Deco:
I´ve posted a thread on this in the medicine forum, and I know there was one some months ago but the bubble formation issue was not adressed. I know the main problem is the underlying disease, but my question is specific about bubble formation and intravascular devices.
"Hi everybody! I would appreciate some info on diving with a port-a-cath (or maybe related info like any other intravascular device), I´ve been looking in medline and couldn´t find anything. Thanks in advance"
Thanks.

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello miguel:

In research settings where people have used indwelling catheters, these are notorious bubble generators. Because of this, they produce artifact in the data; bubbles result where none would have been present in the absence of the catheter.

This has not been known to produce so many bubbles that the animal dies. however, in a human, it is always best to reduce the number of bubbles in the venous system since they can become embolizing entities. There appear to be two factors at work. The first is the presence of micronuclei on the catheter itself, and the second is the nuclei generated during the [minor] surgical process of insertion, per se.

Dr Deco :doctor:

Readers, please note the next class in Decompression Physiology :1book:
http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/advdeco.htm

 

[miguel sanz]

Thanks doc, could you give me some bibliografic references?
thanks again

 

[Saturation]

Its difficult to find these because few people dive with in-vivo catheters or prosthesis. However, even without diving, bubbles can be detected from caths or other artificial devices ... they are thus, considered good nucleation sources to cause bubbling as Dr. D points out:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11442966

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10593684