Deceased
Jacqueline Collette Kettlestring
Demographics
64y, female
Date of death
2021-10-01
Finding date
2025-03-31
Cause of death
acute bronchopneumonia complicating Alzheimer's dementia with head injury
AI-generated summary
A 64-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer's dementia died from acute bronchopneumonia following a head injury sustained in an unwitnessed fall. She was under a guardianship order with special powers at the time. Following a fall on 11 September 2021, clinical examination found no obvious head injury, and given her advance directive stating she was not for intubation or CPR, no further neuroimaging was undertaken. She subsequently developed hypoactive delirium and declined over two weeks before dying. The coroner found the standard of care was appropriate in challenging circumstances and made no adverse findings. The case highlights tensions between respecting advance directives in advanced dementia and potential diagnostic uncertainty after falls, particularly when imaging is deferred based on goals-of-care discussions.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Clinical conditions
88y · Female·Acute on chronic renal failure due to dehydration on a background of Lewy body d…
An 88-year-old woman with Lewy body dementia, Parkinson's disease and congestive cardiac failure died from acute kidney injury precipitated by severe dehydration in aged care. June 2020 blood tests showed mild hypernatra…
89y · Female·acute-on-chronic renal failure on a background of ischaemic heart disease, hyper…
An 89-year-old Aboriginal woman with chronic renal impairment and congestive cardiac failure was prescribed gentamicin intramuscularly for a urinary tract infection caused by Klebsiella aerogenes. Gentamicin is nephrotox…
80y · Female·Fractured left neck of femur on a background of rectal carcinoma and dementia
An 80-year-old woman with dementia and undiagnosed rectal carcinoma died from complications of a fractured left neck of femur sustained during a fall in her aged care facility's memory support unit. She had sustained thr…
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. Some material may have been redacted or restricted by court order or privacy requirements. 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 — report an inaccuracy here.