Hypoxic syncope in a competitive breath-hold diver with elevation of the brain damage marker S100B.
Författare
Summary, in English
INTRODUCTION: Competitive breath-hold divers can accomplish previously unbelievable performances; e.g., the current world record for apnea during rest ("static apnea") is 11 min 35 s. However, whether such performances are associated with a risk for hypoxic brain damage has not been established. CASE REPORT: A breath-hold diver's competitive performance resulted in a loss of consciousness, after which he was subjected to a medical examination by the event physician. Blood samples were collected for analysis of the brain damage marker S100B in serum. The S100B in serum was 0.100 microg x L(-1) in the blood sample collected 15 min after the loss of consciousness. At 1 and 5 d after the incident it was 0.097 microg x L(-1) and 0.045 microg x L(-1) respectively. DISCUSSION: The elevated level of S100B, close to the upper reference limit (0.105 microg x L(-1)) indicates that the incident affected the integrity of the central nervous system. Even though this case does not establish that hypoxic brain damage is an inherent risk with loss of consciousness in competitive breathhold diving, the observation raises concerns. We suggest that it should be considered that repetitive exposures to prolonged apneas leading to severe hypoxia may be associated with negative long-term effects.
Publiceringsår
2009
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
1066-1068
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine
Volym
80
Issue
12
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Aerospace Medical Association
Ämne
- Anesthesiology and Intensive Care
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1943-4448