Failure to Diagnose Aneurysms Leading to Sudden Death

The human body contains billions of blood vessels, ranging from major arteries to minuscule capillaries. Sometimes, the wall of a blood vessel weakens, causing it to expand, balloon-like, and bulge outward. In many cases, this is the result of high blood pressure, but aneurysms may develop for no known cause. When an aneurysm occurs in a major organ, like the heart, lungs, or brain, it’s a life-threatening condition. Like a balloon, the pressure against the bulging wall of the artery can become too great to contain, causing the aneurysm to burst. For this reason, prompt diagnosis and treatment are essential to prevent sudden death.

Sadly, according to one medical research study of cerebral aneurysms, 25% of patients were misdiagnosed during their first medical assessment, a situation that can lead to serious harm and may warrant speaking with an Arizona medical malpractice attorney.

Treating an Aneurysm

When properly diagnosed, a skilled medical professional treats the aneurysm with medication or surgery. If the aneurysm is small, they may choose to carefully monitor it with frequent imaging, treating it only if it expands or appears in danger of rupturing. 

Unfortunately, the most common places for aneurysms to develop are in life-threatening locations, such as within the blood vessels supplying the brain or in the aorta, a major vessel of the heart and abdomen responsible for providing the body with oxygen. Aneurysms also sometimes develop in the arteries behind the knees, in the intestinal (mesenteric) artery, or the splenic artery supplying the spleen.

What Are the Symptoms of an Aneurysm?

A patient may experience early warning signs of an aneurysm before it ruptures, bringing them into an ER or their doctor’s office. The symptoms of an aneurysm depend on its location. An aneurysm in the aorta may cause pain in the abdomen, chest, or back. The patient may also feel a pulsing sensation in the affected area. Symptoms of a brain aneurysm are more complex and often include the following:

• Headache
• Vision problems
• Problems with balance and coordination
• Speech problems
• Problems with memory and concentration

Once a brain aneurysm has burst, the patient may experience pain behind or above one eye, extreme headache, nausea and vomiting,  sensitivity to light, and dilated pupils. They may also have loss of sensation on one side of the body.

Once an aortic aneurysm bursts, the patient may feel sharp pain in the area of the rupture. They may also experience lightheadedness, sweating, shortness of breath, and a rapid heart rate.

Why Do Doctors Sometimes Fail to Diagnose an Aneurysm?

Before a rupture, aneurysm symptoms may be vague or may mimic other conditions. For instance, leg pain caused by an aneurysm behind the knee may be interpreted as a tendon problem, a doctor may misdiagnose a severe headache caused by a brain aneurysm as a migraine, or attribute an aortic aneurysm to heartburn.

Doctors and other medical providers have a legal obligation to treat patients at the level of care that is accepted as standard by the medical community. A doctor fails to meet this standard of care if they miss the early diagnosis of an aneurysm or misdiagnose an aneurysm as something else. Doctors fail to accurately diagnose an aneurysm due to the following:

• Failure to order the appropriate imaging and diagnostic tests, such as an MRI or CT scan
• Misinterpreting test results
• Failure to recognize the early warning symptoms of an aneurysm
• Misdiagnosing an aneurysm as a different condition
• Failure to obtain a patient’s full medical history, which would reveal risk factors
• Prematurely discharging a patient with signs of an aneurysm

When a doctor does not treat a patient the way another reasonable medical professional would have under the same circumstances, it is a breach of their legal duty of care to the patient. This is medical malpractice. 

What Happens When an Aneurysm Bursts After a Misdiagnosis?

When an aneurysm ruptures, the blood pumping through the ruptured vessel hemorrhages into the surrounding tissues. A ruptured brain aneurysm causes blood to pool inside the brain, putting pressure on the brain and causing seizures, coma, and death. This may happen very quickly or within hours, depending on the size of the ruptured blood vessel. 

When an aortic aneurysm bursts, the body experiences a collapse of the circulatory system, with a dramatic drop in blood pressure and oxygenation, leading to shock and cardiac arrest.

A ruptured aneurysm in any location is a life-threatening emergency. About 40% of ruptured aneurysms cause death within 24 hours of the rupture. A further 25% of ruptured aneurysm patients die within six months of the burst aneurysm due to complications.

Proving Liability In a Medical Malpractice Case After a Ruptured Aneurysm Death

If your loved one sought medical treatment for their symptoms and the medical provider failed to accurately diagnose and promptly treat the aneurysm, or misdiagnosed an aneurysm as another condition, they are liable for medical malpractice if the aneurysm bursts. When a ruptured aneurysm leads to sudden death because a medical provider failed to diagnose the aneurysm in time to successfully prevent the rupture, the claim becomes a wrongful death, medical malpractice claim. Proving liability in medical malpractice death claims requires showing the following:

• A doctor/patient relationship was in place at the time the misdiagnosis occurred
• The doctor owed a duty of care to the patient, compelling them to treat the patient at the medical community’s accepted standard of care
• They violated this duty through malpractice
• The violation of their legal duty of care caused injury and death to the patient

Finally, in a medical malpractice wrongful death claim, the decedent’s family member must show evidence of economic damages caused by the death as well as their grief and anguish. As in most states, Arizona limits wrongful death claims to close surviving family members, including a spouse, parent, adult child, or the representative of the decedent’s estate.

How Can an Arizona Medical Malpractice Attorney Help Me?

Proving liability for a missed aneurysm diagnosis death can be challenging, requiring substantial evidence to make a compelling claim against the appropriate liable party, including a doctor, hospital, or emergency clinic. 

Your family deserves financial accountability for your losses and a sense of justice for your loved one. Call Knapp & Roberts (480) 991-7677 or reach out online to speak to a compassionate, assertive medical malpractice lawyer who will become an unwavering ally guiding your family through the medical malpractice wrongful death process.