Chest
Clinical InvestigationsClinical Course of 91 Consecutive Near-Drowning Victims
Section snippets
RESULTS
The charts of 70 male and 21 female patients were studied. Sixty-one patients suffered near-drowning in fresh water, 27 in sea water, and three in brackish water. Eighty-one patients (89 percent) survived, seven died after aspirating fresh water, and three died after aspirating sea water. The average age of the survivors was 19 years (range, 1 to 79 years). The average age of those who died was 16 years (range, 1 to 56 years).
DISCUSSION
Retrospective studies have inherent problems because the extent of disease is not constant, nor are measurements and therapy uniform. Animal studies have shown that the pathophysiologic changes which occur are related to both the type and volume of water aspirated.1, 2, 3, 13 Since human near-drowning victims aspirate variable quantities and types of fluid, the resulting pathophysiologic changes are variable. In spite of these limitations, a number of points in this series are worth considering.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to thank Thorkild W. Andersen, M.D., and Edwin S. Munson, M.D., for their advice; and Joan Beer, Rose Ray, Ph.D., and Pauline Snider for their assistance in preparing the manuscript.
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Manuscript received September 22; revision accepted February 20.