Coroner's Finding: Sheedy, Barbara
Deceased
Barbara Sheedy
Demographics
77y, female
Date of death
2016-04-25
Finding date
2017-04-19
Cause of death
Large acute subdural haemorrhage leading to uncal herniation subsequent to an accidental fall
AI-generated summary
Barbara Sheedy, 77, died from acute subdural haemorrhage following an accidental fall in hospital. She fell while using a wheeled walker and initially appeared uninjured with normal neurological examination. However, she developed breathing difficulties and severe headache hours later, which were attributed to pre-existing pulmonary disease. A dilated pupil at 4:25am prompted CT imaging revealing large right-sided subdural haemorrhage with brain stem compression. Critical lessons: elderly patients on anticoagulation or with bleeding risks require heightened vigilance after falls even without obvious head trauma; progressive headache and neurological changes warrant urgent imaging rather than attribution to chronic conditions; delayed recognition of subdural haemorrhage contributed to the fatal outcome.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Fall from walker with delayed recognition of head injury
- Initial lack of obvious signs of head trauma leading to false reassurance
- Attribution of progressive headache and breathing difficulties to pre-existing pulmonary disease rather than consideration of intracranial pathology
- Delayed imaging - CT scan not performed until patient became unresponsive
- Elderly patient with restricted mobility requiring walker assistance
Full text
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