A FIVE-MONTH-old baby who died at a Dublin hospital two years ago in what doctors suspected to be a case of shaken baby syndrome was found to have died of natural causes by the Dublin City Coroner’s Court yesterday.
The parents were given an apology by a senior doctor at the hospital.
The coroner’s court heard that Rebecca Whyte died of a rare form of brain haemorrhage, the symptoms of which were in keeping with those associated with shaken baby syndrome.
Rebecca Whyte, Springdale Road, Raheny, Dublin, was admitted to Temple Street Children’s Hospital on August 26th, 2007. She died at the hospital on August 28th. State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy carried out a postmortem examination on August 29th.
Prof Cassidy told the court that the baby appeared well-cared for and well nourished. She found no evidence of injury to the head or other trauma to the infant.
Prof Cassidy told the coroner’s court that the haemorrhage in this case was “far more significant” than would normally be expected in a case of shaken baby syndrome. She said the post-mortem findings were not consistent with shaken baby syndrome and concluded that there may have been an underlying abnormality in this case.
Dr Francesca Brett, consultant neuropathologist at Beaumont Hospital, said the death occurred due to an underlying vascular malformation.
The baby’s father Mark Whyte told the coroner’s court that Rebecca had been “her usual happy self” in the week leading up to her admittance into hospital.
The family had spent the week on holidays in Galway with members of their extended family.
However, after they returned to Dublin on August 26th, Rebecca refused to take her bottle and began to scream. At about 9.30pm, she had “a fit of some sort”. Her parents rang for an ambulance and she was brought to Temple Street Children’s Hospital where she was admitted with queried meningitis.
The inquest heard that the baby had a number of seizures while in hospital. A cranial ultrasound and a lumber puncture were carried out on her.
The day after Rebecca was admitted, Mr Whyte and his wife Suzanne O’Toole were informed by Dr Owen Hensey, a consultant paediatrician that their daughter’s condition was in keeping with shake injuries. Dr Hensey told the coroner’s court that gardaí and social workers were contacted as a matter of protocol because, in his opinion and that of three other clinicians at the hospital, Rebecca’s condition was consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
Dr Bryan Lynch, consultant paediatric neurologist at the hospital, said that it was “appropriate to consider a non-accidental injury due to shaking” in the case.
Dr Hensey denied he had accused Rebecca’s parents of child abuse. However, after he had concluded his evidence, he apologised to Mr Whyte and Ms O’Toole on behalf of himself and the hospital.
Det Sgt Patrick O’Toole, then of Coolock Garda station, told the coroner’s court that Rebecca’s parents and extended family had co-operated fully in the investigation into Rebecca’s death. He said that it was his opinion that he formed an opinion early on in investigation that the baby was well treated and cared for.
The Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell recorded death by natural causes.
“There is no evidence of cerebral trauma or “Shaken Baby Syndrome” despite the radiological and clinical findings of subdural haemorrhage and retinal haemorrhages,” Dr Farrell said.
Dr Farrell added that he would write to the relevant statutory and other relevant bodies in relation to this case to ensure that a similar situation did not arise in future.
“I will write in a neutral way setting out what happened to baby Rebecca so that something positive may come out of this tragedy,” he said.
“We will try to do better in the future if we can.”