A NEUROPATHOLOGIC STUDY OF THE EPENDYMOVENTRICULAR SURFACE IN DIVER BRAINS

Morild I, Mork SJ. A neuropathologic study of the ependymoventricular surface in diver brains. Undersea and Hyperbaric Med 1994; 1:43-51.-In terference with the dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid may lead to loss o f ependymal lining in the ventricles of the brain. The ependymal loss of the lateral ventricles under the corpus callosum at the level of th e commisura anterior was measured in 21 diver brains and in a control material of 15 neurologic and nonneurologic brains. The divers were sp ort divers and professional divers with and without saturation exposur e. The different groups were compared with respect to the mean loss of ependymal cells (in percentage). A statistically significant higher l oss of ependyma was found in the total number of divers than in the co ntrols. There was no significant difference between the group of sport divers and the control group. The largest loss of ependymal cells was found in the professional divers without saturation experience. Stati stically, this loss was significantly larger than the loss of ependyma l cells in the controls.