Experimental determination of latency, severity, and outcome in CNS decompression sickness.

Twenty-eight dogs underwent a 300 fsw chamber dive designed to generate spinal cord decompression sickness (DCS), which was detected by observing a reduction in the amplitude of the spinal somatosensory evoked potential (SEP). After an interval of 15 min on the surface following diagnosis, the animals received a therapeutic recompression. The latency was defined as the time between surfacing from the dive and the diagnosis of DCS, the severity as the minimum SEP amplitude, and the outcome as the amplitude of the SEP after 2 h of treatment. Significant correlations between latency and severity (P less than 0.05), latency and outcome (P less than 0.01), and severity and outcome (P less than 0.05) were found. Canine spinal cord latency is shown to be very similar to that found in man up to a surface interval of 30 min. The association between latency, severity, and outcome of spinal cord DCS is discussed with reference to the possible mechanisms involved in this disease.