Survival following accidental decompression to an altitude greater than 74,000 feet (22,555 m).
A man was accidentally decompressed to an altitude greater than 22,555 m (74,000 ft) in an industrial vacuum chamber. He experienced burst lung, massive decompression sickness, and sustained ebulism. He remained at altitude for a period of 3-5 min. By 5.5 h following the accident, he was still profoundly unconscious. He was subsequently treated in a hyperbaric chamber with recompression on a modified U.S. Navy Table 6A and had eventual clinical recovery. The CPK peaked at 8000 units 2 d after the accident, demonstrating substantial barotrauma to the tissues.
D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D003128:Coma / Q000201:enzymology; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D003665:Decompression Sickness / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D014618:Vacuum
D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D003402:Creatine Kinase