Charente-Maritime: An unpublished study on a little-known lung disease health•Doctors launched research in August on the coast of Charente-Maritime to better understand pulmonary edema of immersion 20 Minutes with agencies To better understand, to better protect. This is the whole issue of the ne…
Charente-Maritime: An unpublished study on a little-known lung disease
health•Doctors launched research in August on the coast of Charente-Maritime to better understand pulmonary edema of immersion
20 Minutes with agencies
To better understand, to better protect. This is the whole issue of the new study launched on 15 August in Charente-Maritime on pulmonary edema of immersion (OPI). Conducted over a year by an emergency medicine team from the territory, including Dr. Antonin Mayet, Dr. Lorraine Marchal and Dr. Martin Cardeillac, these researches will mobilize a whole local collective of rescue actors.
Still little known to healthcare professionals, this pathology is characterized by an accumulation of liquid in the lungs during or after immersion, without there necessarily being inhalation of water. It results from the effects of immersion on blood circulation and heart function.
A rare and poorly documented pathology
OPI causes a sudden shortness of breath, coughing, a feeling of oppression or symptoms that can evoke acute cardiac insufficiency. The diagnosis can be particularly difficult in young and sporty people, yet apparently in good health.
This pathology would concern only 1 to 2% of nautical activity practitioners, but it can be serious and requires rapid and adapted care. This new study should thus allow better identification of the phenomenon and improvement of its care. In a territory where water is at the heart of leisure and sport, this initiative fully inscribes itself in a prevention and safety approach.
