ABSTRACT
Decompression sickness in human beings exposed to high ambient pressure is thought to follow from gas bubble formation and growth in the body during return to low pressure. Detection of Doppler-shifted ultrasonic reflections in major blood vessels has been promoted as a noninvasive and sensitive indicator of the imminence of decompression sickness. We have conducted a double-blind, prospective clinical trial of Doppler ultrasonic bubble detection in simulated diving using 83 men, of whom 8 were stricken and treated for the clinical disease. Diagnosis based only on the Doppler signals had no correlation with clinical diagnosis. Bubble scores were only slightly higher in the stricken group. The Doppler technique does not appear to be of diagnostic value in the absence of other clinical information.
Subject(s)
Decompression Sickness/diagnosis , Rheology , Clinical Trials as Topic , Decompression/methods , Decompression Sickness/therapy , Humans , Prospective Studies , Pulmonary ArteryABSTRACT
Two separate species of Aeromonas, A. sobria (not listed as a species in Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 8th ed.) and A. hydrophila, were primary pathogens isolated from the leg wound of a diver conducting operations in polluted waters. This is the first recorded instance of a primary infection of soft tissue in a human caused by two species of Aeromonas, one of which was resistant to tetracycline. Because of the very rapid development of this wound infection, cytotoxicity of these organisms was examined in several biological systems. A. sobria was hemolytic for sheep erythrocytes, cytotoxic for Y-1 adrenal cells, and enterotoxic in rabbit ligated intestinal loops, whereas A. hydrophila was hemolytic and cytotoxic. Pertinent clinical, bacteriological, and environmental features of the case are presented.