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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Induction of Cerebral Arterial Gas Embolism in Rat
Published on: October 18, 2024
Gene-environment mismatch in decompression sickness and air embolism
Joe Alcock1, Andrew H Brainard
1New Mexico VA Healthcare System, Emergency Medicine Service, 1501 San Pedro SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108, United States. joalcock@salud.unm.edu
Abstract:
Decompression sickness causes injury and death in SCUBA divers when air bubbles obstruct the flow of blood. Platelets aggregate in response to gas and promote inflammation. Inflammation in decompression sickness may have its origin in the innate immune system's response to pathogens. Bubbles are often found in tissues during gas-forming infections and in infection-prone states. In these diseases, intravascular gas offers a signal of infection to immune cells. Platelet activation by gas may often accompany a beneficial immune response to pathogens. Pathologic bubble-platelet interaction in decompression illness may be an example of gene-environment mismatch.
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