Haemoptysis and pulmonary oedema following deep breath-hold diving have been described in recent years. We describe the case of a 33-year-old healthy military diver who presented symptoms suggestive of pulmonary oedema after two breathhold dives, the first lasting 0.5-1 min and the second 1-2 min, to 6 metres' depth in the sea. The diagnosis was promptly confirmed with chest computed tomography showing bilateral interstitial infiltrates in the upper regions of the lungs. To our knowledge, this is the first report to document pulmonary oedema in this setting of shallow breath-hold diving with atypical radiological presentation. A definite mechanism for this specific distribution of lung injury remains unclear.
Keywords: Breath-hold diving; case reports; freediving; pulmonary oedema; radiological imaging.