My grandfather's death...

[winlewcando]

My grandfather died in 1939 when my mom was only a few months old. There is a discussion among his children regarding the cause of death. My grandfather's brother wrote a history in which he stated that my grandfather died in the hospital "following a gall bladder operation. Following the operation he seemed to be making a satisfactory recovery, but subsequently started to hemorrhage. However, the immediate cause of his death was negligence on the part of his doctor, who had ordered a blood transfusion but had failed to accurately type his patient's blood. Consequently," he continues, my grandfather "died in only a matter of seconds after the transfusion had started."

I am really interested in learning whether or not this statement is true. Probably everyone involved is now dead, but I am just very curious as is the rest of my family.

I have his death certificate. It reads:

*******************************************

Immediate cause of death: Acute Dilatation of the heart
Due to: Aortic Regurgitation
Due to: Rheumatic Fever [perhaps there should be a comma between these?]
Cholecystitis
Other conditions: cholecystectomy
Major findings:
Of operations: For cholecystitis
Nov 8
Of autopsy: no

****************************************

My grandfather died at age 35. As a youth, he had had rheumatic fever which presented him with complications throughout his life.

My Uncle says, "Mother explained it to me this way. She said that they had started the Blood Transfusion. then soon afterwards his life was gone. It makes sense to me that the blood transfusion was likely the culprit to cause his death."

I have two questions: 1) Could a mix up in blood type for the blood transfusion have really been the cause of his death? 2) What does rheumatic fever and cholecystis have to do with one another? Why would a gall bladder surgery cause "dilatation of the heart" and "aortic regurgitation"?

[kenkeith]

People with type O+ blood should never receive type A+ blood. Transfusion reactions can be fatal.

Statistics and there as been many changes to prevent an identity problem:  Analysis of fatal blood transfusion reactions includes statistics from the Bureau of Biologics provided through the Freedom of Information Act. The study of 126 reported transfusion fatalities occurring between 1976 and 1980 showed that the staff certifying compatibility and the personnel administering the blood have an approximately equal share of the problems. Resolution of blood bag labeling errors through automation leaves patient identification as a major obstacle to those certifying compatibility and the transfusionists. The patient identification wrist band is excellent. However, professional staff do not always utilize this information, relying on memory. In addition, professional staff do not always collate adequately the information on the blood transfusion request form, the blood bag label, and the wrist band of the patient to be transfused. Electronic collation is discussed as a means to identify discrepancies prior to transfusion. The special problem of staff dealing with a time-limited, life-threatening emergency is described and six critical areas related to the problem of fatal transfusion reactions are suggested for further analysis.

Scarring of the aortic valve due to rheumatic fever as a child or young adult can cause a serious heart problem (i.e. heart valves).  The condition can dilate the left ventricle and cause an arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats) and cardiac arrest. The valve regurgitation decreases the amount of blood pumped into circulation with each heartbeat and the heart increases in size to compensate.  Rheumatic fever can scar leaflets and restrict the amount of blood passing through the valve, the left ventricle dilates due to gradient pressure.

No connection with gall bladder and heart disease.  Could cause a digestion problem.

[ed34]

abdominal surgery can cause all kinds of problems, unexpected problems. After traumatic surgery the body becomes weakened and the immune system is unable to
respond as efficiently as possible. It is not uncommon for people to go in for surgery,
have a small infection which is unnoticed (such as a common cold) and end up
post surgery with full blown pneumonia. I know rheumatic fever can affect the heart in
nasty ways and if the body is weak after surgery it could have caused a lot of damage.

Just recently my wife was in our local hospital and after surgery she developed chronic
pneumonia. This was followed by a stroke. SHe is only 40 and it goes to show how a
weakened body can suffer all kinds of setbacks.