Dive after A-fib caused a stroke?

[pepperbelly]

Does a stroke caused by a-fib prevent someone from diving again?

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Does a stroke caused by a-fib prevent someone from diving again?

Not in and of itself, but there are a lot of "ifs". The stroke doesn't come from the a-fib itself, but from the clot that develops in the atria while they're fibrillating that is then ejected from the atria when the rate converts back to normal sinus and the atria return to pumping as normal. This can happen either if the diver is in and out of a-fib, or if he/she has been in a-fib for a while (long enough to form a clot), is cardioverted and converts to sinus that way. The first question would be, has the diver recovered enough function after the stroke to do everything that is required to execute a safe dive? The second would be, if the diver does go in and out of a-fib, is the cardiac output affected? If the a-fib is at a fast enough rate, it can reduce cardiac output to the point that it decreases blood pressure. The third would be, is the diver on anticoagulants? The general recommendation from the diving medical community is not to dive on anticoagulants because of the increased risk of bleeding, especially intracranial bleeding.

If the diver is you or someone who lives in your area, the hyperbaric medical team at Texas Health Presbyterian can evaluate divers for fitness to dive.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[pepperbelly]

It’s someone close to me. There are more issues than just the stroke.
He was on a cruise to Roatan and was scheduled to dive the next day. He was flown to the U.S. after they docked. Thank goodness it didn’t happen during a dive.
A doctor diagnosed the a-fib and said it caused the stroke. Apparently he also has cardiomyopathy with an ejection fraction of 35-40. And untreated high bp.
He will be seeing a cardiologist when he gets here.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

It’s someone close to me. There are more issues than just the stroke.
He was on a cruise to Roatan and was scheduled to dive the next day. He was flown to the U.S. after they docked. Thank goodness it didn’t happen during a dive.
A doctor diagnosed the a-fib and said it caused the stroke. Apparently he also has cardiomyopathy with an ejection fraction of 35-40. And untreated high bp.
He will be seeing a cardiologist when he gets here.

Glad he is getting help. The information you've provided suggests that he may not be physically fit to dive. I would highly recommend that he be evaluated by a diving physician if the cardiologist he sees is not familiar with diving.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[pepperbelly]

Just found out the doctor there couldn’t stop the a-fib so he will need a procedure after he gets here

Glad he is getting help. The information you've provided suggests that he may not be physically fit to dive. I would highly recommend that he be evaluated by a diving physician if the cardiologist he sees is not familiar with diving.

Best regards,
DDM

Thank you.

 

[pepperbelly]

He is home. No symptoms other than the ones at the onset of the stroke.
He is under a cardiologists and neurologists care now.