Postmortem intravascular bubbling: a decompression artifact?

The relationships between drowning occurring in divers using compressed air, with subsequent recovery of the body to the surface, and the finding of intravascular gas bubbles at autopsy were studied. Guinea pigs were exposed to compressed air in a hyperbaric chamber at various depths [98, 294, and 392 kPa (1,3, and 4 atm)] for various intervals and then drowned at depth. Various decompression schedules were used in returning the drowned animals to the surface. Autopsy examination indicated that large and small intravascular gas bubbles may be found, in the absence of traumatic air embolism or decompression sickness, as a result of the process of decompression alone. Postmortem findings of intravascular bubbles bin drowned divers must be interpreted with caution and the importance of a full history of the incident, including depth and time of diving and evidence of ascent before drowning, are critical to the proper interpretation of intravascular gas bubbles.