Referral patterns and outcomes of dive medical examinations in a tertiary hyperbaric facility.

Introduction: Scuba diving involves risks, and candidates in Australia usually have a medical evaluation prior to undertaking a diving course. Hyperbaric physicians act as secondary referral practitioners for these assessments. This study aimed to identify reasons for these secondary referrals, and document the assessment process and outcome for potential dive candidates.

Pulmonary dysanapsis and diving assessments.

Airway obstruction is a relative contraindication to diving. Dive candidates are assessed clinically, and lung function tests evaluate variables such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and the FEV1/FVC ratio. A small number of individuals have a normal FEV1, but a disproportionately large lung capacity, or pulmonary dysanapsis.