Value of bronchial challenge in scuba diving candidates.
Bronchial challenges were effected with carbachol in 76 subjects who were candidates for a scuba diving group. Bronchial reactivity was assessed through airway resistance and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) measurements. Medical interrogation had revealed symptoms of recent (RA) or ancient (AA) asthma, or allergic rhinitis (AL). Nearly half of the subjects (47%) presented bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), which was much more frequent in the RA group, but whose strength did not depend on clinical presentation. Prevalence of BHR was fairly high (36%) in the AL group. BHR constituted a contraindication to scuba diving because it may promote pulmonary barotrauma.
Badier
M
M
Laboratoire d'Explorations Fonctionnelles Respiratoires, H pital Sainte Marguerite, Marseille, France.
Guillot
C
C
Delpierre
S
S
Fornaris
E
E
Jacquin
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000403:Airway Resistance; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D002217:Carbachol; D004242:Diving; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D015995:Prevalence; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000150:complications; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000150:complications
D002217:Carbachol