Premium
Haematology studies during a 350‐metre dive
Author(s) -
Paciorek J. A.,
Rolfsen T.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0036-553X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1986.tb01743.x
Subject(s) - decompression , medicine , hematology , zoology , surgery , biology
Routine haematological monitoring of 6 deep‐sea divers was performed pre‐dive, during the three phases of the 350 m working dive, and at two post‐dive medical examinations. In the compression phase a small percentage (< 5%) of each subject's red cells became non‐discoid in shape and this trend continued during the 6 d at 350 m. Concomitantly each subject was mildly dehydrated by compression diuresis and had a raised haematocrit (+ 5%); all other haematological parameters remained within normal limits. The number of morphologically aberrant cells continued to increase during decompression but were not present at the 1 month post‐dive medical examination. The subjects' mean relative reticulocyte number was decreased during the dive to 0.4%, showing a rapid and sustained increase to 2.1% at both post‐dive examinations. The red cell count was reduced by 10% during the course of the dive. Hb concentration and haematocrit evidenced no differences between the pre‐ or postdive measurements.