Baby was taken to the emergency room TEN TIMES and misdiagnosed with a lung infection before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest, an inquest has heard
A toddler has died from a rare heart condition after hospital doctors ignored his parents’ fears and repeatedly dismissed the symptoms as a chest infection, an inquest is expected to hear.
Archie Squire from Kent was taken to hospital more than ten times in his first and only year of life because he suffered from constipation and shortness of breath.
But his parents, Lauren Parrish and Jake Squire, claim he was discharged from the hospital multiple times with diagnoses of bronchiolitis, a common respiratory infection.
He was admitted for the last time in November last year the queen elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate with constipation and vomiting.
However, two days later – just three days after his first birthday – he died from two separate cardiac arrests.
Archie Squire was taken to the hospital more than 10 times in a year with constipation and even shortness of breath. But his parents Lauren Parrish and Jake Squire claim he was discharged multiple times with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis, a common infection
In November last year he was readmitted to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate with constipation and vomiting. However, two days later — just three days after his first birthday — he died after two separate cardiac arrests
Autopsy revealed that Archie had a rare heart condition, isolated ventricular inversion, which had gone undetected.
This occurs when the heart’s chambers (the ventricles) are in the wrong position, meaning that the left atrium enters the right ventricle and the right atrium enters the left ventricle.
To research have suggested that there Since 1966, fewer than 50 cases of isolated ventricular inversion have been reported worldwide.
An East Kent Hospitals Trust investigation into the death, commissioned by the coroner, has reportedly found there were “missed opportunities” to recognise an “abnormal shadow over the heart” on an X-ray in October 2023.
It was said that an ECHO (a scan to look at the heart) had been requested in the same month, but it was not so urgent.
When Archie passed away, he still hadn’t had the ultrasound.
Errors were also found in other aspects of Archie’s care, including delays in accepting referrals from GPs, letters from clinics and failure to review previous visits and admissions, and medical information not always being shared appropriately.
The 89-page report, which preceded Archie’s investigation, also stated that doctors had not considered a broader diagnosis than just bronchiolitis.
Archie was described by his parents as a ‘happy little boy who always smiled’. He is survived by his younger brother Albie and his mother and father.
The pre-inquest hearing into his death takes place today at North East Kent Coroner’s Court.
East Kent Hospitals Trust has been contacted for comment.