["Deep purple": a case of hemoptysis during breath-hold diving].

INTRODUCTION

Breath-hold diving has been practised since the dawn of humanity but is open to many risks. The consequences mainly involve the respiratory system. The pathophysiological mechanisms are complex because of the multiple forces applied to the body during breath-hold diving.

OBSERVATION: The case reported here describes the development of haemoptysis during a single breath-hold dive to a depth of 26 m, associated with acute alveolar haemorrhage. Recovery was spontaneous.

CONCLUSION

This event is rarely described and, although often associated with the more frequently reported pulmonary oedema of immersion, the mechanisms remain uncertain, but definitely multifactorial (barotrauma, thoracic blood transfer) and probably enhanced by deconditioning. All this emphasizes the extraordinary stresses that the alveolo-capillary membrane is subject to under these circumstances.