A 22-year-old beautician from Lowestoft, Suffolk, has died after suffering three cardiac arrests and losing her unborn baby to sepsis, an inquest has revealed. Zoe Tighe visited the emergency department at James Paget Hospital four times over six weeks complaining of lower abdominal pain, but doctors did not carry out a pregnancy test. She was treated for a recurring urinary tract infection instead.
Missed Opportunities
Ms Tighe attended A&E on April 24, May 22, June 2, and June 7, 2023. On June 24, she collapsed at home and was rushed to hospital, where a CT scan revealed a severe kidney infection and that she was 14 weeks pregnant. The news came as a 'huge shock' as she was unaware of the pregnancy. Tragically, the scan also showed she had miscarried. She was diagnosed with sepsis and transferred to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
Cardiac Arrests and Death
Doctors delivered her baby and attempted to stabilise her, but she suffered three cardiac arrests in the early hours of June 25 and died the following day. The inquest heard that Ms Tighe had been using ketamine since age 17 following her father's death, leading to severe bladder ulceration, frequent UTIs, incontinence, and chronic pain. She had attended a specialist ketamine bladder service and a rehabilitation programme but relapsed.
Coroner Johanna Thompson ruled that while there were missed opportunities to detect the pregnancy, these failings did not cause her death. Instead, she died from septic shock due to a UTI complicated by ketamine misuse. Independent expert Dr Krishnan Anantharamakrishnan stated Ms Tighe had reached stage three ketamine bladder syndrome, the most severe level.
Learning and Changes
The coroner noted that if Ms Tighe had known about her pregnancy earlier, she might have accepted help from other medical services, but the pregnancy did not cause the fatal infection. James Paget Hospital has since implemented additional learning, and blood tests are now routinely carried out on all women of childbearing age. Ms Tighe's mother, Jane, expressed her grief, saying her daughter had 'everything to live for' but was in extreme pain constantly.
