Publications

Selected scientific publications on diving medicine and physiology.

2015 Mar 1
The effect of pre-dive ingestion of dark chocolate on endothelial function after a scuba dive
Theunissen S, Balestra C, Boutros A, De Bels D, Guerrero F, Germonpré P.

The aim of the study was to observe the effects of dark chocolate on endothelial function after scuba diving...

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2015 Mar 15
Relationships between plasma lipids, proteins, surface tension and post-dive bubbles
Schellart NA, Rozložník M, Balestra C.

Decompression sickness (DCS) in divers is caused by bubbles of inert gas. When DCS occurs, most bubbles can be found in the venous circulation: venous gas emboli (VGE). Bubbles are thought to be stabilized by low molecular weight surfactant reducing the plasma-air surface tension (γ)...

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2015 May 1
Decompression induced bubble dynamics on ex vivo fat and muscle tissue surfaces with a new experimental set up
Papadopoulou V, Evgenidis S, Eckersley RJ, Mesimeris T, Balestra C, Kostoglou M, Tang MX, Karapantsios TD.

Vascular gas bubbles are routinely observed after scuba dives using ultrasound imaging, however the precise formation mechanism and site of these bubbles are still debated and growth from decompression in vivo has not been extensively studied, due in part to imaging difficulties...

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2015 Dec 1
Cutis Marmorata skin decompression sickness is a manifestation of brainstem bubble embolization, not of local skin bubbles.
Germonpre P, Balestra C, Obeid G, Caers D.

"Cutis Marmorata" skin symptoms after diving, most frequently in the form of an itching or painful cutaneous red-bluish discoloration are commonly regarded as a mild form of decompression sickness (DCS), and treated with oxygen inhalation without reverting to hyperbaric recompression treatment...

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2015 Mar 1
Flying after diving: should recommendations be reviewed? In-flight echocardiographic study in bubble-prone and bubble-resistant divers.
Cialoni D, Pieri M, Balestra C, Marroni A.

INTRODUCTION: Inert gas accumulated after multiple recreational dives can generate tissue supersaturation and bubble formation when ambient pressure decreases. We hypothesized that this could happen even if divers respected the currently recommended 24-hour pre-flight surface interval (PFSI)...

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