A STUDY OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES WHICH OCCUR DURING ACCLIMATIZATION TO HIGH ALTITUDE. OCCURRENCE OF AEROEMBOLISM AT MODERATE ALTITUDES
Abstract
In the course of a thirty day study of acclimatization to increasing altitude in a low pressure chamber, twenty individuals made three hundred and eighty-seven lock ascents to altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 22,500 feet. Six of these individuals experienced aero-embolism on approximately fifteen occasions, beginning as low as 17,000 feet; in two instances the pain was incapacitating. Three individuals developed scintillating temporal scotomata during descent from 18,000 and 20,000 feet, and in two of these men unilateral temporal blindness persisted for approximately one hour after return to sea level. These individuals gave no family or personal history of migraine, and the scotomata are considered to have been a delayed manifestation of bubble formation. Pilots who make repeated rapid ascents, even to moderate altitudes, may be expected to experience bends, and perhaps visual defects, even as low as 18,000 feet.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 04, 1946
- Accession Number
- AD0622164
Entities
People
- C. S. Houston