Explosive decompression occurs when a person in a high-pressure environment suddenly is exposed to a low pressure one.
This usually occurs as an accident which may involve:
(1) sudden loss of pressure in a plane at high altitude
(2) sudden loss of pressure in an over-pressurized chamber at any altitude
(3) diver suddenly shooting up from a great depth
Conditions that may arise from the sudden change in pressure:
(1) the person may be violently pushed or sucked out through a window
(2) hypoxia with loss of consciousness if at high altitude
(3) arterial gas embolism
(4) other forms of decompression sickness
Giertsen et al describe postmortem findings showing large amounts of intravascular fat in the heart and other organs. One theory was rapid denaturation of lipoprotein complexes.
