Risk Mitigation for Divers With a Known PFO

A patent foramen ovale (PFO), or a “hole in the heart,” is a known risk factor for decompression sickness (DCS). This study sought to determine if closing this hole in a surgical procedure would decrease the risk of DCS and compared these findings to divers that were advised to dive more conservative profiles. Results corroborated current guidelines outside of the standardized research environment.

This experimental study was completed in 2019.

A patent foramen ovale (PFO), a common congenital heart defect, is a hole between the right and left sides of the heart. For nearly 40 years, it has been suspected that inert gas bubbles can travel through this hole and cause decompression sickness (DCS).

In the beginning, there were two options for scuba divers with PFOs seeking to reduce their DCS risk: to stop diving or to dive more conservatively, such as conducting shallower profiles or diving nitrox on air tables. Recently, interventional cardiologists have begun to offer PFO closure as a third DCS risk mitigation strategy. Scientists have shown this procedure to be effective in reducing DCS risk in hyperbaric chamber studies and in standardized research environments, but its efficiency in the “real world” has not yet been established. Divers with PFOs needed to know how effective PFO closure was in reducing DCS risk outside of a highly regulated hospital. The goal of the DAN PFO study was to determine this information.

The study followed 23 divers with PFOs who dove conservatively and 42 divers with PFOs who got PFO closure for up to six years. It examined if their decision to dive conservatively or get PFO closure reduced their incidence of DCS.

Results showed that PFO closure reduced the incidence of DCS. Conservative diving’s effect was inconclusive, most likely due to a small sample size. Since surgical procedures are not without risk, a subset of divers was identified that would benefit most and should consider this procedure. These were healthy divers with large PFOs, previous histories of serious DCS and strong desires to pursue advanced diving.

Additional Reading and References



Peer-Reviewed Publications