A case of spinal epidural haematoma during breath-hold diving

作者：Tremolizzo Lucio^*; Patassini Mirko; Malpieri Massimo; Ferrarese Carlo; Appollonio Ildebrando

来源：Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, 2012, 42(2): 98-100.

• Breath-hold diving
• spearfishing
• central nervous system
• Valsalva manoeuvre
• injuries
• decompression sickness
• case reports

(Tremolizzo L, Patassini M, Malpieri M, Ferrarese C, Appollonio I. A case of spinal epidural haematoma during breath-hold spearfishing. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. 2012;42(2):98-100.) %26lt;br%26gt;Spinal epidural haematoma (SEH) is a rare condition usually the result of bleeding of the epidural venous plexus that might present with acute spinal cord compression. It is often due to traumatic events, but %26apos;spontaneous%26apos; cases have been described, usually related to different predisposing conditions, such as coagulopathies. A 47-year-old male presented with severe frontal headache and intense cervical pain which developed during a protracted breath-hold spearfishing session. A cervical spine MRI performed 12 days after symptom onset showed a small epidural blood collection on the left side of the spinal canal, at the C7-T1 level. One week later, blood was no longer present and the asymptomatic patient was discharged. Protracted minor trauma (neck flexion) and repeated Valsalva manoeuvres might have played a role in the genesis of this event. The role of decompression sickness is discussed as well.

• 出版日期2012-6