Ruptured alveoli

[BuckBuck]

A friend of mine is very interested in diving.
She was told by her GP that she can't though as she when she was a teenager she ruptured her alveoli (something in her lungs - clearly I'm not a Dr).
I told her I would post on her behalf with the question: would a ruptured alveoli from about ten years ago, prevent her from scuba diving today?

Thanks

 

[TSandM]

The implications of this problem for diving would depend on the cause. If this was not due to trauma of any kind (spontaneous pneumothorax) then yes, it is generally considered a contraindication to diving. The reason is that the recurrence rate is high, because the problem is due to abnormalities of the underlying lung. It is possible to do a fairly involved medical workup to try to estimate the risk of recurrence, but there aren't any data to say that the tests we do really do a good job of excluding risk.

If it was due to trauma of some sort, the whole picture changes.

 

[CamC]

IF a spontaneous pneumothorax was involved, and it was 10 or more years ago, then some relatively simple medical tests and scans should be enough for a doctor with a specific knowledge of dive medicine to give the ok. This BSAC link will tell you a little more.

http://www.bsac.com/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=10094&filetitle=Pneumothorax

A SP is likeliest during the teenage years, and most common in taller, leaner individuals Recurrence is common within 10 years (~ 50%) but after that it's surprisingly rare. I had my one and only SP more than 30 years before I began diving, but after some x-rays and a lung function test I was given the all clear and have been absolutely fine ever since.

All that said, the important thing is for your friend to get her own specific medical advice, and not rely on what random strangers tell you on the Internet ;-)