Finding into death of Terence Thomas Wilson
Deceased
Terence Thomas Wilson
Demographics
76y, male
Date of death
2007-09-18
Finding date
2010-03-15
Cause of death
Upper airway obstruction by food bolus in a man with ischaemic heart disease
AI-generated summary
Mr Terence Wilson, aged 76, died from upper airway obstruction by food bolus while attending a family gathering. He had recently been diagnosed with ischaemic heart disease requiring bypass surgery and bipolar affective disorder, managed with depot antipsychotic medication under a Community Treatment Order. At a barbecue, he was observed shoveling food rapidly, then choked and collapsed. Despite immediate family resuscitation attempts and paramedic intervention including MICA attendance, airway obstruction could not be cleared and resuscitation ceased after 45 minutes. Autopsy confirmed triple vessel coronary atherosclerosis. The coroner found no relationship between his mental health supervision status and the cause of death. Clinical lessons include recognition of dysphagia risk in elderly patients with acute psychiatric illness, and the importance of eating behaviour observation in vulnerable populations.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Rapid food consumption (shovelling)
- Ischaemic heart disease with triple vessel coronary atherosclerosis
- Acute psychiatric illness (bipolar affective disorder)
- Recent change in antipsychotic medication to depot formulation
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