Quote:
| Originally Posted by RobbieS ....
If 10% of the population have a PFO, then why would this shoot up to 33% in the case of divers?
... |
The general view is that 33% of the general (and diving) population (roughly) have a PFO. Its a fact that 100% of people
have had one. The PFO "heals" after birth and gradually closes. I understand that if the fusing of the heart muscle is not complete it can tear under the stress of a bad shunt. Also (again my understanding) you can get a flap of tissue that forms over the hole and this too can be dislodged by a heavy shunt.
Clearly its not a very cut and dried issue and it is statistically an fact that you can dive with a PFO and never get hit.
Having researched the area for a while (the missus has migranes and has had the test) it seems to me the best thing is to avoid microbubble formation as much as possible by use of modern decompression techniques like deep stop and above all avoid shunts after a dive. The common cause of a shunt is the valsalva technique for equalising. Learn other techniques as much as possible and avoid equalising at all during the ascent phase by improved buoyancy control.
Don't expect many people to actually know squat about the PFO and certainly the general medical profession (as opposed to dive specialists) have a lower knowledge baseline than many divers. My missus was tested by an NHS hospital and was first given the wrong test. On the second attempt about half a dozen doctors turned up as they had never seen the procedure before. One idiot amongst them commented "waste of money". Luckily for that individual it was the missus on the table not me or he might have learnt a little about dentistry that afternoon
Chris