Factor V Leiden and Scuba Diving?

Question

My 16 year old is a scuba diver and just was diagnosed with Factor V Leiden. This is a blood disorder which makes her more susceptible to blood clots. We went to the hematologist last week. Nice guy, but he's not American and has literally never heard of scuba diving. He was asking my daughter "well, what do you wear when you go scuba diving?" and "How do you hold your breath for that long?" In other words he doesn't have any concept of the depth of length of time under water that is involved.

Then he said "Well, I don't see a problem with that."

I'm not at all confident with this answer. Scuba usually involves a change in pressure, obviously, and I'm concerned this can cause clotting issues. Can someone please offer some level of expertise on this?

Answer 1

Trusting people online about mortality issues is not smart. Go to a DIFFERENT hematologist.

Answer 2

You may want to contact DAN ( Divers Alert Network).

Ph: 1-800-446-2671  Mon-Fri 9-5

That's the non emergency information line and a medic on hand may be able to answer your question or at least refer you to a dive specialist in your area that your Daughter can see.

  There are articles in the medical FAQ regarding use of blood thinning agents ( I assume your Daughter is possibly using something of the sort to combat her condition).

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/

You are right to have concern here, since we are talking about the medium of gas exchange (blood) and anything that may inhibit mechanics of that is a potential threat. I'm not just thinking of clotting here ( obviously a risk) but DCS issue. She's able to get O2, but can she off gas nitrogen properly is where I'm going here.