[Macular functions in professional divers].

PURPOSE: Air diving is frequently practiced by professionals or sportsmen. Controversial data exist in the literature on the existence of retinal abnormalities in divers.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

18 divers (aged: 27-58y) who dived around 2000 times in their life were studied: half of them dived only with air while the others used an O2-enriched gas mixture (40 to 60%). None of them had presented a bend (decompression sickness). Visual acuity and ocular fundus examination have been explored. A quantification of color vision and central visual field, so as a fluorescein angiography have been performed.

RESULTS

No alteration of visual acuity was noted; abnormalities in the color vision and the visual field are reported; however the angiographic lesions described in the literature have not been observed.

DISCUSSION: The alterations of color vision were quite severe but not very frequent. No correlation was found with any characteristics or type of diving.

CONCLUSION

These observations are comforting for sportive divers who do not dive very often nor very deep but an individual predisposition is suspected.