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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Could The Sudden Cause For Death Be Due To Wrong Setting Of ICD?

Hi I was hoping that you may be able to assist me at this difficult time when my step-father has passed away. Just to give you some information and background to my step-father. He died very suddenly on 07/07/2010 at the age of 53, prior to his passing he had been in good health and didn t show any signs of distress. His medical background was that he had an ICD pacemaker fitted in June 2008 and had his heart ablated. He went into hospital in February 2010 for a minor TURP Prostate operation under aesthetic , prior to performing the surgery the hospital had to adjust his ICD. He went on holiday in June 2010 but prior to flying abroad he went for a check up at the pacemaker clinic to make sure he was ok to travel, he was informed by the clinic that the ICD was running at the wrong setting, stating that the hospital must not have changed it back correctly. He went away on holiday with my mum and enjoyed his 10 day holiday in Egypt without any problems. He arrived back from his holidays on 25/06/2010 and was fit and well until his sudden death two weeks later. When my mum had found him he was lying on the floor, previous to this he had been sitting at the table completing a crossword. There didn t see to be any sign of life, so my mum immediately called the paramedics, on there arrival they said he had already died and produced a print out of his heart reading showing a flat line. We have many unanswered questions and unfortunately at this stage two post-mortems have been carried out and the pathologist has not been able to determine the cause of his death. Can I ask you, is it possible that somebody can get an electric shock from an ICD that would be strong enough to kill somebody, the reason I ask is that he didn’t die slump at the table and the position he was at on the floor next to the table with one foot caught around the chair leg. He also had what looked like a blue mark on his forehead. When we finally brought his body home to rest there was extensive bruising to the top of his head in a different location to the first mark. Can you think of any other explanations in relation to the ICD why he may have died. I really appreciate your time and feedback.                                                                  
posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Twitter Tue, 19 Feb 2019 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 20 Feb 2019 Last reviewed on
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Cardiologist 's  Response
Hi,

After going through your medical query I understand your concern and I would like to tell you that most likely cause of death was fetal cardiac arrhythmia in the setting of non-functioning ICD which wasn't switched on after TURP surgery.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Bhanu Partap,
Cardiologist
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Could The Sudden Cause For Death Be Due To Wrong Setting Of ICD?

Hi, After going through your medical query I understand your concern and I would like to tell you that most likely cause of death was fetal cardiac arrhythmia in the setting of non-functioning ICD which wasn t switched on after TURP surgery. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Bhanu Partap, Cardiologist