Woman, 66, died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital just 12 days after heart operation

A 66-year-old woman died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital 12 days after undergoing an elective major heart procedure intended to improve her quality of life.

Carol Walsh, from Adlington, near Chorley, had suffered from heart disease for some years and underwent the coronary artery bypass and micro valve replacement procedure on February 4 this year.

She was transferred to cardiac intensive care after the operation and seemed to be recovering well, although in the early hours of February 8, her haemoglobin levels dropped briefly when some bleeding was detected around the canula inserted her femoral artery for the procedure.

Her recovery continued encouragingly but on February 16, her condition worsened quickly and considerably as her lactate levels rose notably and she died after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Consultant forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd carried out a post mortem and told an inquest at Blackpool Town Hall that the primary cause of death was coronary artery disease and micro valve disease, which would have made the procedure a high risk one.

He also noted a supporting cause of a pelvic haematoma, which he described as a long slow haemorrhage, but he saw no evidence of perforations which might have occurred during the procedure or any infection.

Mr Joseph Zacharias, the consultant cardio-thoracic surgeon who performed the procedure said it had gone well, with the only concern when Mrs Walsh took slightly longer than expected to come off bypass following the procedure.

Dr Neil Britton, clinical lead in the cardiothoracic ICU, said Mrs Walsh’s recovery after the operation had been encouraging, even with the brief drop in haemoglobin levels on February 8.

He told the inquest he didn’t think there was anything that could have been done differently and he felt the most likely cause of her lactate level rising was a failing right ventricle.

Blackpool and Fylde chief coroner Alan Wilson said he accepted the pathologist’s cause of death of the heart disease but wanted to ensure pelvic haematoma associated with femoral artery canulation was listed as a supporting cause.

“While not a dramatic blood loss or anything which would cause the pathologist to include it in the cause of death, that would have played some role in affecting her cardiac function,” he said.

He recorded a narrative conclusion based the circumstances of Mrs Walsh’s death.