Deceased
Mellanie Joanne Paltridge
Demographics
25y, female
Date of death
2012-04-15
Finding date
2015-03-02
Cause of death
ruptured splenic artery aneurysm
AI-generated summary
A 25-year-old pregnant woman (23 weeks gestation) presenting with collapse and severe abdominal pain was not definitively diagnosed with a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm despite examination by multiple medical practitioners. Emergency surgery was performed but failed to identify the rupture. The death was only confirmed as aneurysm rupture at autopsy. A prior similar death from the same condition (Monique Hooper, 2009) had occurred at the same hospital but lessons learned remain unclear. The coroner examined whether quality improvement activities and recommendations following the earlier death had been conducted and whether these could have prevented this death. The ruling addresses legal questions about disclosure of protected quality improvement documentation under South Australian health legislation rather than clinical findings on causation of death.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Clinical conditions
Procedures
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30y · Male·Unascertained; likely cardiac arrhythmia
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