Dive Illnesses and Treatments Practice Test

AGE, or arterial gas embolism, is best described as an event where a rapid ascent or lung barotrauma forces air into the arterial circulation, sending bubbles to the brain and spinal cord. This produces abrupt neurologic signs—such as sudden confusion, dizziness, loss of consciousness, or focal deficits—immediately after surfacing or after a lung injury. That quick, neurological-onset pattern after a dive makes this description the most accurate.

Chronic cough isn’t typical of AGE, which is an acute event, and AGE is not limited to deep-sea divers—any diver who ascends rapidly or sustains pulmonary barotrauma can be affected. While AGE can overlap with decompression sickness, it is not indistinguishable from it; AGE has a distinctive, sudden neurologic presentation due to arterial bubbles, whereas DCS often presents with joint/muscle pains and skin symptoms that develop more gradually.