Dad died of heart attack hours after having stent fitted

Inquest told family cannot accept death 'unavoidable'

- BY SEAN MCCARTHAIGH

THE family of a man who died of a heart attack hours after a routine procedure in hospital told an inquest they will never accept his death was unavoidable.

Dublin District Coroner's Court heard. Peter Dunne, 74, became unwell just over 30 minutes after being discharged from Beaumont Hospital following an operation to fit a stent on July 8, 2019.

However, his relatives claimed he should not have been discharged as he was not feeling well at the time.

He was pronounced dead over five hours later shortly after 11pm after being rushed by ambulance to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in the city.

Consultant cardiologist Mark Kennedy, who performed the procedure, said he had suffered a rare but life-threatening complication called acute stent thrombosis which only affected about 3 in 1,000 patients.

Asked by coroner Aisling Gannon if the condition was unexpected, Dr Kennedy replied: "Entirely unpredictable." The inquest heard there was no evidence there was anything done wrong during the procedure that contributed to his death.