30 (±1.85) cm/s were significantly different from divers with adjusted mean of 25.02
(±1.85) cm/s (P = 0.018). By controlling the effect of age with partial correlation analysis, a significant reverse correlation was also detected between index of total working and mean flow velocity of right MCA in pilots (r = −0.58, P = 0.027). Little is known about the effect of hypobaric and hyperbaric condition on brain hemodynamic in pilots and divers according to literature review. Our study was performed to assess and compare blood flow velocity indexes between pilots and divers as representatives of hypobaric and hyperbaric conditions. While trying to explore these new features of cerebrovascular investigations, some novel findings were expected to be revealed. In this study, PS341 with controlling the effect of age, divers appeared to have lower flow velocities including peak systolic and end diastolic as well as mean flow velocity. On the other hand, divers
have also a significantly higher resistance index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) which is in favor of low stage atherosclerotic changes of brain arteries. Although the divers were significantly Erastin cell line younger than the pilots, these hemodynamic findings remained or even strengthened after adjusting the age effect between two study groups. These results were more significant in the right MCA which is mostly considered artery for brain hemodynamic studies in previous researches where they have shown no systematic differences in MCA flow velocities measured from the right or left sides by use of similar methodology [16] and [17]. Considering the normal range of PI between 0.6 and 1.1 [18], most of the cases have values within the normal range. However, a PI of lower than 0.6 (stenosis) was detected in the basilar artery of four individuals which all belonged to divers’ group
(25% vs. none, P < 0.05). Furthermore, another 2 divers had a PI of higher than 1.1 which is in favor of attenuated blood flow in basilar artery. In pilots’ group, the entire measured PI's were found to be within the normal range despite the significantly higher mean age in this group. These findings could probably emphasize the potential harmful selleck compound role of hyperbaric working situation of divers compared with hypobaric environment of pilots. A previous study by Boussuges et al. [19] showed numerous hemodynamic changes after an open-sea scuba dive. Although they have investigated hemodynamic changes after 1 h post-diving, an increase in heart rate and decrease in systolic flow velocity were demonstrated. Afterwards, they proposed two possible factors to explain these hemodynamic alterations including low volemia secondary to immersion, and venous gas embolism induced by nitrogen desaturation occurred in divers [19]. Another recent study by Moen et al.