June 21, 2010
June 11, 2010
Abstracts from Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal
Following are some abstracts from the March-April 2010 issue of the Journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. These are copied from the public source, Medline.
Triage and emergency evacuation of recreational divers: a case series analysis.
Zeindler PR, Freiberger JJ.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;37(2):133-9.PMID: 20462146 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Treating necrotizing fasciitis with or without hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Hassan Z, Mullins RF, Friedman BC, Shaver JR, Brandigi C, Alam B, Mian MA.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;37(2):115-23.PMID: 20462144 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on the treatment of severe cases of periodontitis.
Nogueira-Filho GR, Rosa BT, David-Neto JR.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;37(2):107-14.PMID: 20462143 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and age-related macular degeneration.
Weiss JN.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;37(2):101-5.PMID: 20462142 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Takac I, Kvolik S, Divkovic D, Kalajdzic-Candrlic J, Puseljic S, Izakovic S.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;37(2):95-9.PMID: 20462141 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Intracerebral hemorrhage related to systemic gas embolism during hysteroscopy.
Guillard E, Nancy B, Floch H, Henckes A, Cochard G, Arvieux J, Arvieux CC.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;37(2):89-93.PMID: 20462140 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Effects of cigarette smoking on tissue gas exchange during hyperbaric exposures.
Hart GB, Strauss MB.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;37(2):73-87.PMID: 20462139 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Gossett WA, Rockswold GL, Rockswold SB, Adkinson CD, Bergman TA, Quickel RR.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;37(1):35-48.PMID: 20369651 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Hyperbaric oxygen ameliorates delayed neuropsychiatric syndrome of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Chang DC, Lee JT, Lo CP, Fan YM, Huang KL, Kang BH, Hsieh HL, Chen SY.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;37(1):23-33.PMID: 20369650 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Left ventricle changes early after breath-holding in deep water in elite apnea divers.
Pingitore A, Gemignani A, Menicucci D, Passera M, Frassi F, Marabotti C, Piarulli A, Benassi A, L’Abbate A, Bedini R.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;37(1):13-21.PMID: 20369649 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
Repetitive breath-hold diving causes serious brain injury.
Tamaki H, Kohshi K, Sajima S, Takeyama J, Nakamura T, Ando H, Ishitake T.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;37(1):7-11.PMID: 20369648 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Related citations
June 10, 2010
Image of cutis marmorata from the New England Journal of Medicine.
Image of cutis marmorata from the New England Journal of Medicine.

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A 38-year-old man was transferred to the Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine Unit with decompression sickness 9 hours after a deep scuba dive to 54 m (177 ft). During the ascent, he had omitted decompression stops. On physical examination, there was evidence of paraparesis, hypoesthesia, and urinary retention associated with spinal cord involvement, as well as a characteristic rash (cutis marmorata) on the thighs and torso. Cutis marmorata is a dermal manifestation of decompression sickness. Initially, there is erythema accompanied by pruritus, and then the rash spreads irregularly and deepens in color. It develops a mottled appearance, with areas of pallor surrounded by cyanotic patches. During recompression, the rash resolves. Although cutis marmorata is not directly associated with complications, it commonly accompanies or precedes more severe illness involving the central nervous system or cardiovascular system and should be identified early in a troubled diver. The patient was treated with recompression in a hyperbaric-oxygen chamber. He was discharged 20 days later with resolution of the rash and full recovery of motor function. On follow-up 6 months after discharge, he remained free of symptoms.
June 3, 2010
Undercurrent Online Update
For Non-Subscribers June 2, 2010
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Consumer Reporting for the Scuba Diving Community since 1975
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Before you book an August-October trip anywhere in the Caribbean, you’d better consider that NOAA thinks the 2010 hurricane season could be a real whopper. It is predicting anywhere from 14 to 23 named storms, and three to seven hurricanes that hit Category 3 or higher. Other major forecasters are predicting 15 to 18 named storms. To put things in perspective, the Atlantic had an average of 9.6 named storms per year from 1950 to 2000. The average for 2000 to 2009 soared to 15. While most of the Caribbean is affected, favorite diving destinations such as the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Cozumel, the Caymans and Belize are especially in harm’s way.
Consider the one reader David Funderburk (Greeley, CO) had in Baja California last month. “I paid for a three-tank dive. On my first dive, the divemaster, a young lady who had been diving for four years, took us to the sandy bottom at 67 feet and motioned us to stay there. After 18 minutes, she returned and had us surface. Apparently she had become lost and had to surface herself to get oriented. The second dive was uneventful but the third dive she aborted after 20 minutes, and no reason was given. That trip ranks as one of my worst experiences.” Has your dive day been ruined by a “certified divemaster” who brings shame to the title? What do you think — are certifying agencies granting Divemaster and Instructor certificates to people with so few dives they’re totally unqualified to lead other divers? We’re considering a story on how well divemasters are trained, both in and out of the water. So give us your bad experiences, as well as good ones showing us which divemasters others should exemplify. E-mail me at PublisherBenD@undercurrent.org
You’ll find more free content for divers than anywhere else at Undercurrent — we’ve made much more available to the public. Thousands of resort reviews, free access to all Undercurrent issues and reports prior to 2008, and blogs from the smartest and funniest people in the industry. And loads of improvements to make finding the information you need quickly and easily — more details below. You can also get a complete free sample issue of a real issue.
In this month’s travel feature, Doc Vikingo writes about his superb dive at Boo Rock, featured on the cover of Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock’s latest book. It’s the definitive guide book on what the authors call “the greatest repository of tropical marine life on earth.” This 146-page book is filled with descriptions of mind-blowing dive sites, along with good descriptions of the area, the people, what you need to know to dive there, and fantastic photos of Raja Ampat’s unusual critters. Order it now at Undercurrent by going to “Books” and clicking on the cover photo. Our profits go to help reefs like Raja Ampat stay amazing.
If you’re looking for a summer deal with great accommodations and surely some of the Caribbean’s best diving, Paradise Villas on Little Cayman, a big favorite of Undercurrent subscribers, is a great choice. Owner Marc Pothier emailed us to say he’s rolling prices back to 2005 to get divers in the water. Paradise Villas has 12 oceanfront villas with kitchenettes if you want to prepare your own meals or hold a barbecue. Or dine at the casual waterfront restaurant Hungry Iguana, right on the property (everything from burgers to salads to steak and lobster). The house dive operation, the well-regarded Conch Club Divers, sports a 42-foot Newton for comfortable transport to Bloody Bay Wall. The whole deal is right here at www.paradisevillas.com. When you book, mention that you read about this offer from Undercurrent (use code “Undercurrent/Paradise Villas 2010″ or something similar) and you will get a $25 restaurant credit per person.
The barge-like Caribbean liveaboards stopped operations last month. Will divers who made reservations get their money back? Which other liveaboard fleets are stepping in to offer them replacement trips? Read our report “Nekton Cruises Shuts Down” for free at Undercurrent.
Joshua Hinsdale of Examiner.com has put together some good links to monitor the oil spill, including an oil spill movement forecast map and an explanation of BP’s latest well-plugging effort, the top kill procedure. If you want to see the depressing site of what the Gulf looks like now beneath the waves, check out this video of Philippe Cousteau and Good Morning America’s Sam Champion diving in hazmat drysuits for a close-up, underwater view of the “toxic soup.”
With political unrest in Bangkok, travelers are warned to avoid Thailand, even though the country’s dive sites are in the south, away from “state of emergency” regions. Still, the U.S. State Department recommends on its website : “U.S. citizens should defer all travel to Bangkok and all nonessential travel to the rest of Thailand.” Jenny Collister at dive travel agency Reef and Rainforest recommends divers now to fly to Phuket via Singapore or Hong Kong. “All liveaboards are based in Phuket, where it’s business as usual.” But the violence is having repercussions on dive destinations outside Thailand. No one can make reservations at Kasawari Lembeh Resort in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi region right now. It has its booking office in Bangkok. [They have now reopened the office -- DSE].
Joan Moody, who, with her husband Tom, developed the marvelous little Fiji dive retreat Moody’s Namena Island Resort, passed away in early May. They were instrumental in the creation of the marine reserve to protect the stunning barrier reef surrounding Namena Island from being overfished. Before going to Fiji, they operated Moody’s Pidertupo, a dive resort in the San Blas islands off the coast of Panama. It was burned to the ground by vigilantes and Tom was seriously wounded. The complete story is in There’s a Cockroach in my Regulator (order it at Undercurrent)
Then you need Step Zero II: Preparation for a SCUBA Live-Aboard Trip, which has a long checklist of actions to complete (Where do I want to go? Who do I want to go with?) and things to bring (How much do I pack? What photo equipment do I need?). This is a great guide to ensure you have an enjoyable time and don’t leave any essentials behind. (Paperback, 120 pages, $42.50 list price, $8.95 for the Kindle version). Go to www.Undercurrent.org, select Books, and you’ll get Amazon’s best price — and our profits will go to save coral reefs.
We’ll send you a case of 32 Travelin’ Divers’ Chapbooks (the new 2010 version) for your dive club — or dive store — if you make a $100 tax-deductible contribution to our effort to save reefs. Send the check to Undercurrent, 3020 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965, with instructions about where you want the case sent. We’ll even throw in a free subscription to Undercurrent.
If you were a subscriber, you’d be reading about these stories in our 16 page June issue:Superb diving on Raja Ampat’s Archipelago Adventurer II . . . misunderstood and overlooked dive sites in the Caribbean and Pacific . . . price-fixing dive shop owners on Catalina Island, and how a third one went undercover to reveal their scheme . . . why divers get a bad deal on life insurance, and how they can get a good one . . . what’s more dangerous: the rebreather or the diver using it? . . . a night time raid shuts down Fiji’s Lagoon Resort and Beqa Adventure Divers . . . is Divers Alert Network staying true to its mission? . . . and much more.