A woman died after some of the internal coating of a catheter lodged in an artery, an inquest at Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday.
Mrs Loretto Foy (60), of Main Street, Chapelizod, was suffering from severe narrowing of the arteries and had an angioplasty procedure at St James's Hospital on April 28th last to widen an artery. When she died in the hospital on May 1st her death initially was attributed to natural causes.
But an "in-house" post-mortem revealed that teflon lining from the catheter lodged in an artery and this was found to have brought on a heart attack.
During the inquest the woman's death was described as "the first of its kind" and that the cause of her death was "unique." The incident has been posted on the Internet.
The Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, recorded a verdict of death by misadventure and said he would write to the Department of Health to find the appropriate body to which he should report the outcome of the inquest.