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Breathing tube linked to boy's dental-clinic death
Jacobi Hill died at VCU Medical Center after having caps put on several of his teeth at the VCU Dental Faculty Practice.
By Reed Williams | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Published: June 29, 2010
» Richmond, Va. --
A 6-year-old boy who died after he underwent anesthesia for dental treatment suffered an abnormal heartbeat when his breathing tube was removed, according to the state medical examiner's office.
Jacobi Hill of Henrico County died May 11 after undergoing dental treatment at the Virginia Commonwealth University Dental Faculty Practice in Richmond.
Steve Murman, a spokesman for the medical examiner's office, said yesterday that the manner of Jacobi's death was ruled natural, and that the cause was "cardiac dysrhythmia due to endotracheal extubation."
Murman declined to elaborate beyond the official cause and manner of death.
Dr. Robert Campbell, a pediatric oral surgeon at Virginia Dental and Anesthesia Associates, said it is not clear whether Jacobi's irregular heartbeat was the result of the heart slowing down or speeding up.
Generally, a heart that is beating too quickly can be controlled using a defibrillator, Campbell said.
He said nerves that accelerate or slow down the heart branch off to the trachea. As a patient awakens from anesthesia, a stimulation of the vagus nerve in the trachea can cause the same nerve in the heart to slow down or stop, Campbell said.
"That's pretty rare, because during the process of waking up, your heart rate generally speeds up, and we try to do something to slow it down," he said.
"I've probably done 5,000 cases of children with breathing tubes, and I have yet to a see a heart rate slow down because the breathing tube was pulled."
Campbell said the medical examiner's ruling appears to be "a diagnosis of exclusion -- you've ruled out everything else."
VCU spokeswoman Pamela Lepley said yesterday that she would not comment because she has not received a report from the medical examiner. "Our thoughts remain with the family," she said.
Jacobi's mother, Crystal Lewis, also declined to comment on the cause and manner of death. She added that the family has not decided whether it will pursue a lawsuit and that they have not hired an attorney.
Lewis has said Jacobi was at the dental practice to have caps, also known as crowns, put on several teeth. He was given anesthesia.
She said her son went into cardiac arrest as soon as the procedure ended and a breathing tube was removed. Jacobi was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Lewis has said her son had asthma but no other known health problems.
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Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or [email protected].
Breathing tube linked to boy's dental-clinic death
Jacobi Hill died at VCU Medical Center after having caps put on several of his teeth at the VCU Dental Faculty Practice.
By Reed Williams | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Published: June 29, 2010
» Richmond, Va. --
A 6-year-old boy who died after he underwent anesthesia for dental treatment suffered an abnormal heartbeat when his breathing tube was removed, according to the state medical examiner's office.
Jacobi Hill of Henrico County died May 11 after undergoing dental treatment at the Virginia Commonwealth University Dental Faculty Practice in Richmond.
Steve Murman, a spokesman for the medical examiner's office, said yesterday that the manner of Jacobi's death was ruled natural, and that the cause was "cardiac dysrhythmia due to endotracheal extubation."
Murman declined to elaborate beyond the official cause and manner of death.
Dr. Robert Campbell, a pediatric oral surgeon at Virginia Dental and Anesthesia Associates, said it is not clear whether Jacobi's irregular heartbeat was the result of the heart slowing down or speeding up.
Generally, a heart that is beating too quickly can be controlled using a defibrillator, Campbell said.
He said nerves that accelerate or slow down the heart branch off to the trachea. As a patient awakens from anesthesia, a stimulation of the vagus nerve in the trachea can cause the same nerve in the heart to slow down or stop, Campbell said.
"That's pretty rare, because during the process of waking up, your heart rate generally speeds up, and we try to do something to slow it down," he said.
"I've probably done 5,000 cases of children with breathing tubes, and I have yet to a see a heart rate slow down because the breathing tube was pulled."
Campbell said the medical examiner's ruling appears to be "a diagnosis of exclusion -- you've ruled out everything else."
VCU spokeswoman Pamela Lepley said yesterday that she would not comment because she has not received a report from the medical examiner. "Our thoughts remain with the family," she said.
Jacobi's mother, Crystal Lewis, also declined to comment on the cause and manner of death. She added that the family has not decided whether it will pursue a lawsuit and that they have not hired an attorney.
Lewis has said Jacobi was at the dental practice to have caps, also known as crowns, put on several teeth. He was given anesthesia.
She said her son went into cardiac arrest as soon as the procedure ended and a breathing tube was removed. Jacobi was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Lewis has said her son had asthma but no other known health problems.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or [email protected].
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