Abstract
The authors report three autopsy cases of acute decompression sickness. Two of three cases showed marked necrosis with edema in the spinal cord. Microscopic examination disclosed thrombus formation in the parenchymal, arachnoidal and epidural vein systems in associated regions.
It is suggested that the processes of the spinal cord damage were the result of two different stages of tissue injuries: the first is more or less tissue destruction due to autochthonous bubble formation and the second is severe circulatory disturbance especially the disturbance of venous return from the spinal cord.
