Baby died from brain damage week after anaesthetic

An 18-month-old baby girl died from brain damage less than a week after being anaesthetised for an operation, an inquest heard tonight.

Dr Jacinta McGinley, an anaesthetist at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, admitted that Evie Pereira’s brain injuries had probably occurred during the anaesthetic procedure before an exploratory operation on April 19, 2002.

However, Dublin City Coroner Dr Brian Farrell highlighted the fact that there had been evidence the baby had also got into difficulties in the Intensive Care Unit shortly after the operation and said this may have exacerbated the damage.

The baby, whose parents Tibbs Pereira and Deirdre Walsh-Pereira from Skerries Rock, Skerries, Co Dublin, were in court, died in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children on April 24, 2002.

She had suffered from respiratory problems after she was born with a severe abnormality of the larynx.

The inquest heard that she had undergone a series of operations to repair the hole in her trachea and had suffered continuous respiratory problems since birth.

Dr McGinley told the inquest that baby Evie got into difficulties as she was anaesthetised on April 19, 2002, for an exploratory operation to establish the condition of her airways and see if previous repair operations were still working.

The inquest heard that the operation was cancelled as during Dr McGinley’s attempts to anaesthetise her, the baby’s breathing became laboured and then her heart rate fell.

The pathologist, Dr Michael McDermott, found that she had died from brain damage due to a lack of oxygen to the organ for a period of time. He also said that the holes in the repair work to her windpipes had reopened and were behind her recurrent respiratory problems.

However, Dr McDermott could not pinpoint if the brain damage had been caused during the operation or an incident in the Intensive Care Unit just after the operation.

Dr McGinley said: “I am sure what happened now, in the benefit of hindsight, that what happened in the anaesthetist room that day contributed, but as to what happened afterwards only God knows the answer to that.”

She added: “It probably was the cause. I know there was a problem subsequently in the ICU but I don’t know if that was the cause.”

The anaesthetist said the baby had suffered a cardio respiratory problem during the operation and they had to administer adrenaline and perform emergency CPR.

Dr McGinley said that she had performed the anaesthetic procedure to the exact standard for children with airway problems and would not change anything she had done.

A solicitor for the baby’s parents said Dr McGinley originally claimed the child had been in difficulty with a low heartbeat and breathing problems for a short length of time of around 30 seconds.

Dr McGinley said she had revised that, and admitted it could have been around two minutes, but could not definitely estimate the time.

The anaesthetist said the child had seemed to recover quickly after the adrenaline was administered and she had been overly optimistic of her chances for a full recovery.

The family raised issues that she had not looked at previous reports of difficulties from other anaesthetists. However, Dr McGinley said she had spoken with the other doctors before the operation and was well aware of the difficulties that could arise with the baby.

“It was well known in this department that this was a difficult case,” she said.

Dr Farrell adjourned the inquest to hear exactly what happened in the ICU ward after the child was finished in the operating theatre and when the child was diagnosed with brain damage.