Arteriovenous bubbles following cold water sport dives: Relation to right-to-left shunting

Neurologic injury subsequent to decompression from diving may be due to par adoxical arterialization of venous gas emboli. Of 40 divers who performed 5 3 open water dives after being tested for a patent foremen ovale (PFO), art erial gas emboli were detected in 7 of 13 dives, which resulted in venous b ubbles. In five of these seven dives, there was evidence of a PFO by contra st transcranial Doppler sonography, indicating an increased risk of arteria lizing venous bubbles in divers with a PFO.