Haematology studies during a 350‐metre dive

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Abstract
Routine haematological monitoring of 6 deep‐sea divers was performed pre‐dive, during the three phases of the 350 m working dive, and at two post‐dive medical examinations. In the compression phase a small percentage (< 5%) of each subject's red cells became non‐discoid in shape and this trend continued during the 6 d at 350 m. Concomitantly each subject was mildly dehydrated by compression diuresis and had a raised haematocrit (+ 5%); all other haematological parameters remained within normal limits. The number of morphologically aberrant cells continued to increase during decompression but were not present at the 1 month post‐dive medical examination. The subjects' mean relative reticulocyte number was decreased during the dive to 0.4%, showing a rapid and sustained increase to 2.1% at both post‐dive examinations. The red cell count was reduced by 10% during the course of the dive. Hb concentration and haematocrit evidenced no differences between the pre‐ or postdive measurements.