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An elderly woman who was admitted to hospital with pneumonia went on to develop a deadly skin condition, an inquest has heard.
Teresa Kenny (86), of Brookview Gardens, Tallaght, Dublin 24, died of Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN), which causes the death of the epidermis and results in skin redness and blisters and leaves the body open to infection.
Dublin Coroner’s Court heard Ms Kenny was showing the effects of the condition on some 70 per cent of her body before her death on February 20th, 2015 at Tallaght Hospital.
Members of her family informed medical staff of a previous reaction to penicillin on her admission to the hospital on January 14th, 2015 when she was suffering from pneumonia. She was prescribed cephalosporin, a type of antibiotic.
Her condition improved slightly but at the end of January she tested positive for Ecoli and doctors were not sure of the source. She developed septicemia and was given multiple antibiotics including vancomycin and meropenem.
Three days before her death she was reviewed by two separate consultant dermatologists and all antibiotic medication was stopped.
Frailty
Consultant Geriatrician Dr John Doherty said Ms Kenny’s age, her frailty and the infections she was fighting needed to be considered as factors in relation to the onset of TEN.
He said the decision was made to give her the “least damaging option” by administering an antibiotic with a very small risk, meropenem.
The family’s solicitor Sheila Reidy asked if TEN is caused by antibiotics, and Dr Doherty said he did not agree that it was.
“It is impossible to distinguish the effects of antibiotics separately. These patients are ill so there is more than one factor,” Dr Doherty said.
Pathologist Dr Yi Ling Khaw gave the cause of death as TEN, most likely due to drugs or infection. Ms Kenny’s family asked for further clarification of the possible cause of the condition and Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane adjourned the inquest in order to consult with an independent immunologist.