@article{ref1,
title="Arterial blood gases in divers at surface after prolonged breath-hold",
journal="European journal of applied physiology",
year="2020",
author="Bosco, Gerardo and Paganini, Matteo and Rizzato, Alex and Martani, Luca and Garetto, Giacomo and Lion, Jacopo and Camporesi, Enrico M. and Moon, Richard E.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="PURPOSE: Adaptations during voluntary breath-hold diving have been increasingly investigated since these athletes are exposed to critical hypoxia during the ascent. However, only a limited amount of literature explored the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. This is the first study to measure arterial blood gases immediately before the end of a breath-hold in real conditions. <br><br>METHODS: Six well-trained breath-hold divers were enrolled for the experiment held at the &quot;Y-40 THE DEEP JOY&quot; pool (Montegrotto Terme, Padova, Italy). Before the experiment, an arterial cannula was inserted in the radial artery of the non-dominant limb. All divers performed: a breath-hold while moving at the surface using a sea-bob; a sled-assisted breath-hold dive to 42 m; and a breath-hold dive to 42 m with fins. Arterial blood samples were obtained in four conditions: one at rest before submersion and one at the end of each breath-hold. <br><br>RESULTS: No diving-related complications were observed. The arterial partial pressure of oxygen (96.2 ± 7.0 mmHg at rest, mean ± SD) decreased, particularly after the sled-assisted dive (39.8 ± 8.7 mmHg), and especially after the dive with fins (31.6 ± 17.0 mmHg). The arterial partial pressure of CO<sub>2</sub> varied somewhat but after each study was close to normal (38.2 ± 3.0 mmHg at rest; 31.4 ± 3.7 mmHg after the sled-assisted dive; 36.1 ± 5.3 after the dive with fins). <br><br>CONCLUSION: We confirmed that the arterial partial pressure of oxygen reaches hazardously low values at the end of breath-hold, especially after the dive performed with voluntary effort. Critical hypoxia can occur in breath-hold divers even without symptoms.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1439-6319",
doi="10.1007/s00421-019-04296-2",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04296-2"
}