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Kang, Oh, and Jung: Immersion Pulmonary Edema after Scuba Diving: An Undiagnosed Entity
Case Report

The Korean Journal of Sports Medicine 2017; 35(3): 206-209.

Published online: 7 December 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2017.35.3.206

Immersion Pulmonary Edema after Scuba Diving: An Undiagnosed Entity

Hui Dong Kang, Se Hyun Oh, Sang Ku Jung

Department of Emergency Medicine, Gangneung Asan Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Gangneung, Korea.

Correspondence: Se Hyun Oh. Department of Emergency Medicine, Gangneung Asan Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 38 Bangdong-gil, Gangneung 25440, Korea. Tel: +82-33-610-5491, Fax: +82-33-610-4960, emfosh@gnah.co.kr

Received 13 October 2017       Revised 21 November 2017       Accepted 21 November 2017

Copyright © 2017 The Korean Society of Sports Medicine

The Korean Society of Sports Medicine

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Immersion pulmonary edema (IPE) is a form of pulmonary edema that can occur in divers or swimmers. IPE is a rare condition, but can be life-threatening and recurrent condition. The pathophysiology of IPE is still incompletely understood. We present a case of scuba diving induced pulmonary edema in a 46-year-old woman diving in cold seawater. After 20 minutes of diving at 18 m, she felt difficulty of breathing. Symptoms on surfacing were dyspnea, cough, and frothy sputum. Chest X-ray showed pulmonary edema and she was treated with an intravenous diuretic and supplemental oxygen. The patient showed rapid resolution of symptoms and was discharged on the same day. Sport physician should be aware of this potentially life-threatening recurrent condition.

Keywords: Diving, Immersion, Pulmonary edema

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1

Chest radiograph (A) and computed tomography scan (B) obtained at the time of admission showed diffuse pulmonary edema without cardiomegaly.

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Fig. 2

Chest radiograph obtained 4 hours later showed a marked decrease in pulmonary edema.

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Notes

Conflict of Interest No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

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