Coronial
NSWhospital

Inquest into the death of Steve FESUS

Deceased

Steve Fesus

Demographics

60y, male

Date of death

2020-10-24

Finding date

2022-06-09

Cause of death

metastatic atrial sarcomatoid tumour

AI-generated summary

Steve Fesus, aged 60, died in custody at Prince of Wales Hospital from metastatic atrial sarcomatoid tumour. He had been diagnosed with cardiac cancer in 2016, underwent surgery, and was in remission until metastases were discovered in April 2020 whilst in prison. He received appropriate palliative surgical resection and oncological care, with frank discussions about his poor prognosis and incurable condition. Advanced care planning was undertaken with appropriate documentation of his wishes for comfort-focused end-of-life care without resuscitation. The coroner found the care provided was appropriate and no action could have altered the outcome. The death was from natural disease progression, properly managed with respect for the patient's autonomy and dignity.

AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.

Specialties

oncologycardiologycardiothoracic surgerypalliative caregastroenterologycorrectional healthforensic medicine

Drugs involved

pazopanib

Clinical conditions

myxofibrosarcoma of left atriummetastatic sarcoma with retroperitoneal involvementbony metastasessmall bowel obstructioncardiac sarcomastage IV metastatic disease

Procedures

cardiac surgery for primary tumour resectionpalliative surgical resection of retroperitoneal massnephrectomyadrenalectomysplenectomydistal pancreatectomyhemidiaphragm repairradiotherapyCT imagingPET scanningcardiac echocardiographypost-mortem examination

Contributing factors

  • rapid disease progression
  • small bowel obstruction secondary to metastatic disease
  • aspiration in context of terminal deterioration
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