Premium
Effects of long duration dive (8, 10 and 12 hours) with hyperbaric hyperoxia on Navy divers’ eye and visual function
Author(s) -
VALERO B,
CASTAGNA O,
BRUGIER A,
VIGNAL R,
DE FARIA A,
BOURNIQUEL M,
SEKFALI R,
BLATTEAU JE,
GIRAUD JM
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2014.t009.x
Subject(s) - electroretinography , medicine , scotopic vision , ophthalmology , photopic vision , visual acuity , exposure duration , hyperoxia , mesopic vision , audiology , retinal , environmental health , lung
Purpose To assess anatomical and functional effects of long duration dive (8 to 12 hours) on the eye, by reproducing all the constraints undergone by professional divers, so as to prevent potential hazard to diver visual function. Methods 18 male Navy divers performed prolonged dive sessions (8, 10 and 12 hours), breathing 50% Nitrox or 100% O2, according to immersion depth (7 to 20 msw), and amounting to 1.54 to 1.7 bar inhaled PO2. for each diver, we studied several parameters 24 hours before and 15 hours after immersion: visual acuity, low spatial contrast sensitivity, color vision, eye refraction, ocular examination, visual field, full‐field clinical electroretinography and multifocal electroretinography. Results None of the 18 divers had any loss of visual acuity. No change occurred following dive in spatial contrast sensitivity, color vision, eye refraction, visual field parameters (corrected mean deviation, foveolar threshold). Ocular examination was normal for all the divers, before and after immersion. Regarding full‐field clinical electroretinography, b‐wave was significantly decreased after immersion (286,64 µV ± 60,34 vs 270,07 µV ± 57,64, p = 0,015) on scotopic response with white attenuated stimulation. No significant modification occurred in multifocal electroretinography. Conclusion Thus long duration hyperoxic dive didn't cause any clinically significant eye modification. No immediate harm to diver eye and visual function appeared. The slight modifications on electroretinography could be due to intra or inter‐individual variations, but they raise question about subclinical functional effects of hyperoxia that could affect rod‐cell function.