Deceased
Kathleen Anne Conlan
Demographics
70y, female
Date of death
2003-11-28
Finding date
2011-06-10
Cause of death
Cardiac arrest caused by a combination of gastric haemorrhage and pneumonia exacerbated by coronary heart disease
AI-generated summary
Mrs Kathleen Anne Conlan, 70, died from cardiac arrest caused by gastric haemorrhage and pneumonia on a background of coronary artery disease. She presented with severe epigastric pain and was appropriately admitted for investigation. Initial blood tests and CT scan showed no evidence of gastrointestinal bleeding. Her symptoms improved and she was discharged, but re-admitted hours later when blood tests showed elevated white cell count. She deteriorated suddenly with evidence of upper GI bleeding and collapsed. The coroner found treatment prior to discharge was appropriate based on available evidence. Key learning: gastric haemorrhage onset was acute and unpredictable. The blood gas abnormalities (pO2 49, O2 sat 86%) on re-admission should have prompted repeat testing and oxygen therapy as precaution, though this would likely not have changed the outcome. No diagnosis was made before discharge, which was reasonable given symptom resolution, but discharge documentation should have been provided to the general practitioner.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
87y · Female·Complications of head injuries and left proximal femur fracture sustained in a f…
An 87-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease sustained an unwitnessed fall at a residential aged care facility, resulting in head injuries and a hip fracture. Critical clinical lessons emerged: (1) neurological observat…
47y · Male·Acute myocardial infarction due to thrombotic occlusion of the right coronary ar…
Nick Panagiotopoulos, a 47-year-old man, suffered a fatal acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) on 16 October 2021 at home in Preston, Victoria. His family made five calls to Triple Zero (000) requesting emergency a…
73y · Male·Thromboembolism on a background of a spindle cell tumour
Michael Anthony Guider, aged 73, was an inmate in NSW correctional custody when he developed progressive shortness of breath and lower limb swelling. He presented to Prince of Wales Hospital on 6 September 2024 and was f…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —