Originally Posted by Quero
You might consider getting checked for a PFO. Simply getting checked doesn't imply getting a PFO repaired, even if it is discovered that you have one.
I know that you are much more experienced at diving than I, as are several others here, but have you read the latest DAN article on that?
Alert Diver Online Maybe I could appreciate the idea of exploring that more if it was a totally unexplained hit, but especially looking at that second dive...
Yes, DD, I've read that report. I suggest that you take the time to re-read it as well. The conclusions of the report are not nearly as black and white as you seem to believe. In essence, as I understand the report to say, there's no reason for Joe-diver to do a
routine test for a PFO, but on the other hand, when a diver has been diagnosed as having suffered a DCS event all aspects of the dive as well as certain aspects of the diver's medical condition, including the possible presence of a PFO, should be investigated. It goes on to say that if a PFO is discovered, the decision of whether to surgically repair the defect should weigh the potential benefits of closure against the potential risks presented by the surgical procedure. In other words, just getting the test doesn't mean that should a PFO be found to be present it absolutely must be repaired.
The OP has demonstrated by posting the dive profiles generated by his dive computer that he was not in violation of the limits set by the algorithm of that particular computer. I'm not a medical professional and as such am not in a position to say one way or the other whether that the profile of the second dive was without doubt enough in and of itself to provoke the bend--perhaps it was, but it's also possible that there were other contributing factors, and it may be enlightening to find out whether PFO was or was not among those factors. This knowledge could help determine what mitigation strategies the OP might be advised to incorporate into the execution of his dives in the future.
I have myself been tested for PFO, on the recommended of a hyperbaric physician, and I can tell you that the procedure is relatively simple. I can't see any harm in the suggestion that the OP ask a hyperbaric physician about the possibility of getting tested. Keep in mind that it wouldn't be a
routine test, but rather one aspect in the investigation of a documented case of DCS, if, in the judgment of the attending physician there is a chance that a PFO could have been a contributing factor.