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The South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society (SPUMS) diving medical for recreational scuba divers was last reviewed in 2011. From 2011 to 2019, considerable advancements have occurred in cardiovascular risk assessment relevant to divers. The SPUMS 48th (2019) Annual Scientific Meeting theme was cardiovascular risk assessment in diving. The meeting had multiple presentations updating scientific information about assessing cardiovascular risk. These were distilled into a new set of guidelines at the final conference workshop. SPUMS guidelines for medical risk assessment in recreational diving have subsequently been updated and modified including a new Appendix C: Suggested evaluation of the cardiovascular system for divers. The revised evaluation of the cardiovascular system for divers covers the following topics: 1. Background information on the relevance of cardiovascular risk and diving; 2. Defining which divers with cardiovascular problems should not dive, or whom require treatment interventions before further review; 3. Recommended screening procedures (flowchart) for divers aged 45 and over; 4. Assessment of divers with known or symptomatic cardiovascular disease, including guidance on assessing divers with specific diagnoses such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation, cardiac pacemaker, immersion pulmonary oedema, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and persistent (patent) foramen ovale; 5. Additional cardiovascular health questions included in the SPUMS guidelines for medical risk assessment in recreational diving; 6. Updated general cardiovascular medical risk assessment advice; 7. Referencing of relevant literature. The essential elements of this guideline are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present current controversies concerning the safety of medical devices and procedures under pressure in a hyperbaric chamber including: defibrillation in a multiplace chamber; implantable devices during hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) and the results of a recent European questionnaire on medical devices used inside hyperbaric chambers. Early electrical defibrillation is the only effective therapy for cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia. The procedure of defibrillation under hyperbaric conditions is inherently dangerous owing to the risk of fire, but it can be conducted safely if certain precautions are taken. Recently, new defibrillators have been introduced for hyperbaric medicine, which makes the procedure easier technically, but it must be noted that sparks and fire have been observed during defibrillation, even under normobaric conditions. Therefore delivery of defibrillation shock in a hyperbaric environment must still be perceived as a hazardous procedure. Implantable devices are being seen with increasing frequency in patients referred for HBOT. These devices create a risk of malfunction when exposed to hyperbaric conditions. Some manufacturers support patients and medical practitioners with information on how their devices behave under increased pressure, but in some cases an individual risk-benefit analysis should be conducted on the patient and the specific implanted device, taking into consideration the patient's clinical condition, the indication for HBOT and the capability of the HBOT facility for monitoring and intervention in the chamber. The results of the recent survey on use of medical devices inside European hyperbaric chambers are also presented. A wide range of non-CE-certified equipment is used in European chambers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which investigated whether partially implantable active middle-ear amplifiers are prone to function loss or implosion in hyperbaric conditions. The study tested 12 Vibrant Soundbridge® (VSB) middle-ear amplifiers from Med-El Corp. Laboratory function tests and visual inspections revealed normal results in the 12 equipment after hyperbaric exposure.

Scuba diving with an intrathecal baclofen pump is encouraged for people with spinal cord injury who are suffering from spasticity. However, the diving depth is limited to 10 metres in this context. Proper physician and patient education in this respect is mandatory since non-compliance can lead to an irreversible loss of drug reservoir capacity due to collapse of the bottom shield. We report such an incident in a paraplegic diver diving to depths down to 30 metres' water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]