Deceased
Ms C
Demographics
49y, female
Date of death
2017-10-21
Finding date
2019-10-29
Cause of death
hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy complicating cardiac arrest due to pulmonary thromboembolism in the setting of morbid obesity
AI-generated summary
A 49-year-old woman with morbid obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea, and psychiatric history was admitted following deliberate medication overdose. She was intubated, managed in ICU, then transferred to the ward where she received standard-dose heparin thromboprophylaxis (5000 units twice daily). She was discharged after 4 days but suffered a pulmonary embolism en route home, resulting in cardiac arrest and death from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy. The coroner found medical management reasonable and appropriate by current guidelines. However, the investigation highlighted that morbidly obese patients have increased VTE risk and may require higher prophylactic heparin doses, as standard dosing may provide suboptimal protection. No firm dosing guidelines currently exist for obese patients. The coroner recommended further evaluation of increased heparin dosages in the obese population.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
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