Inquest rules on death of talented young drummer
ATALENTED young drummer died of a lack of oxygen to the brain after ‘high risk’ 10-hour open heart surgery, an inquest heard.
Matthew Densfield, of Cherry Tree Way, Helmshore, underwent his fifth life-saving heart operation at Manchester Royal Infirmary and the procedure required his heart to be stopped.
Manchester Coroner’s Court heard how the former Haslingden High School pupil suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain during the 10-hour operation despite ‘all efforts’ made by surgeons.
He suffered a ‘massive stroke’ and never regained consciousness. He passed away seven days later on March 28 last year, aged just 20.
The inquest heard how the talented jazz drummer had a heart defect as a result of the genetic condition DiGeorge Syn- drome and underwent his first operation at 10 days old. He then had subsequent operations aged 18 months and 11 and 16 years old.
Cardiac surgeon Mr Andreas Horschtitzky told the hearing that Mr Densfield had a full aortic valve replacement in 2013 and scans carried out in 2017 showed that the suturing had ‘torn’ and was started to leak blood, forming a ‘thick’ clot.
He was admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary on February 22 last year but was unable to have the operation until March 21 because of an infection.
Mr Horschtitzky told the inquest that in order to replace the ‘heavily diseased’ segment of the aorta Mr Densfield’s heart needed to be stopped and he would receive ‘circulatory arrest’.
This surgical technique involves cooling the body and reducing blood circulation to the brain for up to one hour.
Mr Horschtitzky said they monitored the blood oxygen levels to his brain during the procedure and ‘tried to support the brain as much as possible’.
The inquest heard that Mr Densfield’s parents David and Susan were told that there was a 15 to 20 per cent risk of death and that the surgery was ‘very high risk’.
During the hearing David Densfield asked Mr Horschtitzky: “Is there anything anybody could have done to give Matthew a different outcome to the one that brings us here today?”
The surgeon replied: “If the same situation had occurred then I think I would have done exactly the same operation.”
In a statement read out at the inquest, David Densfield praised the ‘exceptional’ staff who looked after his son and said despite his medical problems he ‘led quite a normal life’.
The hearing heard that he enjoyed playing golf, chess and table tennis. He had recently started studying music at Leeds University and was ‘very happy’ living in student halls.
Dr Hamish Walker, consultant cardiologist, said an ‘abnormality’ shown on Mr Densfield’s MRI scan in December 2016 was not initially picked up by the radiologist until nearly two months later.
However the hearing heard it would ‘not have affected the final outcome’ and that new measures have now been put in place.
Recording a narrative conclusion, assistant coroner Jean Harkin said the cause of death was hypoxic brain injury due to open heart surgery following multiple previous heart surgeries, and a contributory factor was DiGeorge Syndrome.
His heart needed to be stopped during procedure