Dossetto, Kate Emma
Deceased
Kate Emma Dossetto
Demographics
86y, female
Date of death
2008-06-26
Finding date
2010-08-19
Cause of death
Unable to be determined
AI-generated summary
An 86-year-old woman resident in aged care died with toxicology revealing a potentially fatal concentration of sertraline (1.7mg/kg, with metabolite at 2.3mg/kg; fatal range 0.61–1.6mg/kg). A clinical pharmacologist opined that such high concentrations likely resulted from overdose (intentional or non-intentional) and might have increased risk of cardiotoxicity or seizure, particularly given her significant pre-existing ischaemic heart disease and heart failure. However, without a full autopsy, the actual cause could not be determined. The coroner found no evidence of direct intervention. Key clinical lessons: careful medication monitoring in elderly aged care residents on multiple drugs; recognition that sertraline toxicity may present subtly in elderly, non-communicative patients; consideration of drug accumulation and toxicity risk in those with cardiac disease.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Potentially fatal concentration of sertraline (1.7mg/kg blood level)
- Pre-existing ischaemic heart disease and heart failure
- Possible sertraline overdose (intentional or non-intentional)
- Absence of full autopsy limiting determination of actual cause
- Difficulty in recognising toxicity symptoms in elderly, non-communicative patients
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