Finding into death of LUCIA DI PIETRO
Deceased
LUCIA DI PIETRO
Demographics
42y, female
Date of death
2010-08-04
Finding date
2012-08-16
Cause of death
Global hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury due to upper airway obstruction by food bolus
AI-generated summary
Lucia Di Pietro, a 42-year-old woman with severe autism and epilepsy living in Department of Human Services disability accommodation, choked on roast beef during supervised dinner on 1 August 2010. Emergency services arrived within 3 minutes; paramedics removed large amounts of meat from her larynx and trachea using forceps, but airway clearance took 2–3 minutes. Despite clearing the obstruction, she suffered cardiac arrest, was resuscitated with CPR and adrenaline, and intubated. Transferred to Austin Hospital ICU for therapeutic cooling due to severe hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury, she showed no meaningful recovery potential. Treatment was withdrawn on 4 August 2010. The coroner found she died from complications of the food bolus obstruction.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Choking on roast beef
- Large obstruction in airway
- Delay in airway clearance
- Subsequent cardiac arrest
Full text
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