Coroner's Finding: Sansom, Ann Margaret
Deceased
Ann Margaret Sansom
Demographics
62y, female
Date of death
2014-04-01
Finding date
2015-06-16
Cause of death
acute subarachnoid haemorrhage following perforation of the anterior communicating artery complicating a procedure to stabilise a saccular (berry) aneurysm
AI-generated summary
Ann Margaret Sansom, a 62-year-old woman with Type 2 diabetes and cirrhosis, died from subarachnoid haemorrhage following perforation of the anterior communicating artery during an endovascular coiling procedure for a 3mm berry aneurysm. The aneurysm was discovered incidentally when she presented with third cranial nerve palsy. Although the aneurysm was small (3mm), she had a significant family history of subarachnoid haemorrhage and strongly desired treatment. The procedure was performed by an experienced interventional radiologist according to accepted practice standards. An unexpected complication—arterial perforation—occurred intraoperatively, leading to massive subarachnoid haemorrhage and brain herniation. Post-mortem examination confirmed a 1mm perforation at the anterior communicating artery. The coroner found no evidence of substandard practice. This case illustrates the inherent risks of neuroradiology interventions, particularly in patients with cirrhosis who have increased bleeding risk.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Type 2 diabetes
- cirrhosis with increased bleeding risk
- family history of subarachnoid haemorrhage
- arterial perforation during endovascular coiling procedure
- intraoperative complication during aneurysm treatment
Full text
Related cases
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 —