Deceased
Wendy May Aslett
Demographics
60y, female
Date of death
2010-10-29
Finding date
2013-01-17
Cause of death
Multiple organ failure following haemorrhage from penetration of the femoral artery
AI-generated summary
A 60-year-old woman died from multiple organ failure caused by uncontrolled bleeding from an arterial puncture sustained during coronary angiography. Although the procedure itself was uncomplicated and an Angio-Seal device was inserted to seal the puncture, post-procedure bleeding continued. Critically, when the patient presented to her GP three days later with a massive, painful haematoma, the GP failed to recognize this as a medical emergency. She did not contact the treating cardiologist, did not refer to hospital, and incorrectly diagnosed the haematoma as infectious, prescribing only antibiotics and pain relief. Two days later, when the patient reached hospital in irreversible hypovolemic shock, emergency surgery revealed the bleeding site in the external iliac artery. The coroner found this death preventable: appropriate hospital referral or specialist consultation on day 3 would almost certainly have saved her life. Key lessons: post-angiography haematomas require urgent specialist assessment and discharge summaries with clear clinical indicators are essential.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Clinical conditions
40y · Male·Unascertained
Nathan James Taylor, aged 40, died in Port Lincoln Prison on 24 March 2022 while in custody pending trial on witness interference charges. He had significant medical history including infective endocarditis with tricuspi…
73y · Male·Thromboembolism on a background of a spindle cell tumour
Michael Anthony Guider, aged 73, was an inmate in NSW correctional custody when he developed progressive shortness of breath and lower limb swelling. He presented to Prince of Wales Hospital on 6 September 2024 and was f…
71y · Male·metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma
Robert Bell-Williams, aged 71, died from metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma while in lawful custody at Long Bay Hospital on 1 February 2024. Imprisoned since 2012, he was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in 202…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —