Deceased
Ella Felicity Hitchen
Demographics
32y, female
Coroner
Coroner Phillip Byrne
Date of death
2020-10-29
Cause of death
Aspiration pneumonia with severe cerebral palsy as underlying condition
AI-generated summary
Ella Hitchen was a 32-year-old woman with severe cerebral palsy, quadraplegia, intellectual disability, vision impairment, epilepsy and dysphagia who died from aspiration pneumonia. She had a PEG tube inserted in 2011 due to aspiration risk. Following a previous aspiration pneumonia admission in November 2019, a suctioning machine was provided and staff were trained. She was admitted on 18 October 2020 with shortness of breath, discharged on antibiotics, then readmitted on 27 October 2020 with deterioration. A decision was made not to escalate treatment but to provide comfort care. The coroner found all care provided by parents, group home staff and St Vincent's clinicians was reasonable and appropriate. The clinical lesson is that despite preventive measures (PEG tube, suctioning equipment, staff training), aspiration pneumonia remained a significant risk in this population, highlighting the ongoing challenge of managing aspiration risk in severely disabled individuals.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Clinical conditions
Procedures
62y · Male·Aspiration pneumonia complicating epilepsy in the setting of Down syndrome
Richard Watson, a 62-year-old man with Down syndrome, epilepsy, dementia and C1 partial quadriplegia, died from aspiration pneumonia at Austin Hospital. He had recurrent admissions over six months for pneumonia, asthma a…
49y · Female·Aspiration pneumonia in the setting of cerebral palsy and epilepsy
Louise Hayes, a 49-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and dysphagia, died from aspiration pneumonia at Kilmore & District Hospital. She had experienced deteriorating health in 2020 with increased seizures and …
17y · Male·Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy Complicating Anaphylaxis
James Tsindos, a 17-year-old with known nut allergy and mild asthma, experienced anaphylaxis after inadvertently ingesting cashews in a vegan restaurant meal on 27 May 2021. Ambulance paramedics administered two doses of…
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