In the July 2015 issue of Undercurrent, an article titled “A better heart-check tool than a stress test?” discusses the possible benefits of a coronary calcium scan for older divers to reduce the risk of experiencing a heart attack while diving.1 This article is a follow-up to a May 2015 Undercurrent report about an overweight 65-year-old diver who died shortly into his dive while on a dive trip.2 That article, which considered preventive options such as a stress test, also presented views from Dr. Alfred Bove and DAN’s Dr. Petar Denoble and Dr. James Chimiak, who agreed with the American College of Physicians (ACP) guidelines that recommend a graded and individualized approach to preventive testing and diagnostics.
Another physician suggests in the July 2015 article, however, that older divers should have a coronary calcium scan, which he claims may provide information that will help them avoid a heart attack on their dive trips. Many walk-in clinics offer the test at a low price. “A coronary calcium scan can tell you years before a positive stress test that you are headed in that direction [of significant coronary disease] so that you can do some kind of intervention,” he said. While the statement has merit, it may be misleading in this context.
The Dive Lab 