Background: Decompression illness often presents with a wide variety of vague neurologic symptoms. Animal models have suggested that intracranial hemorrhages may result from nitrogen bubble ischemic insults. However, there is a paucity of cases and no known case reported to date of non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage after rapid ascension from diving.
Case description: A 60-year-old man presented with headache, nausea, emesis, and confusion 2 days after ascending rapidly from scuba diving. Given the severity and his symptoms unremitting despite oxygen at home, a computed tomography scan of the head was obtained revealing a prepontine and right sylvian fissure subarachnoid hemorrhage with ventriculomegaly. No underlying vascular abnormality was discovered. The patient was discharged from the hospital posthemorrhage day 7, neurologically intact.
Conclusions: In patients presenting with persistent headache, nausea, emesis and/or other neurologic symptoms after diving, health care providers should consider intracranial hemorrhage in their work up.
Keywords: Barotrauma; Decompression illness; Diving; Intracranial hemorrhage; Scuba; Subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Published by Elsevier Inc.