Severe neurological decompression sickness associated with right ventricular dilatation and a persistent foramen ovale.

Abstract

We present the case of a 28-year-old female diver who performed a scuba air dive with significant omitted decompression obligation. She developed constitutional and neurological symptoms. Brain magnetic resonance imaging post treatment demonstrated multifocal embolic infarcts and transthoracic echocardiogram with bubble contrast on day three revealed a persistent foramen ovale (PFO) and severe right ventricular (RV) dilatation. We postulate that the high venous bubble load from the provocative decompression caused an increase in pulmonary artery pressure, leading to RV dilatation and increased right to left shunting of bubbles across her PFO, resulting in significant neurological deficits. This mechanism is analogous to that seen in acute thromboembolic pulmonary embolism.