sudden death

[sylvania]

A good friend of mine died early monday morning. According to her husband she sat up in bed then colapsed back down. That was it - she was gone.
Now my question to you all (PLEASE - sensible answers only - this is serious) - What could have caused it? Even though she had spina-bifada she was quite healthy.

[ummmm]

Heart attack?

I'm sure they will find out when they do the PM...

[Sqad]

It could be many things and the cause of death should be made at postmortem.

I do not know any of her past history except of course her spina bifida and if she had a ventriculo shunt.

No point in speculating as to the cause.......sorry.

[jackthehat]

Sorry to hear about this.

There are dozens of things which could have caused her sudden death; undetected heart problems is often the main culprit.

[redcrx]

i expect that there will just be too many possibilities and that a postmortem may be required for the answer. At least its doubtful she would have suffered with such a sudden passing.

[sylvania]

Thanks all for your quick answers.
There will be a PM but don't know when.
Sqad - she did have a ventriculo shunt but I have never known what it was or what it did. She never went into details about it I just knew it exsisted.

[Sqad]

sylvania........in spina bifida there is varying degrees of hydrocephalus ( water on the brain) and if this is allowed to collect, then it may cause compression of the brain and subsequent death of the patient. A device thought up by two paediatric surgeons, Spitz and Holter both Americans I think, inserted a tube into the fluid enlarged ventricle and the other end into the jugular vein in the neck OR into the peritoneal cavity in the stomach......a sort of "overflow" system.
This can get blocked and will certainly be the centre of focus at the post mortem.

[sylvania]

Thanks alot Sqad, I thought it was to do with fluid, but wasn't sure.
When I spoke to her husband he said something about it could have been blocked.
Thanks again all.
Will post at a later date to let you the outcome of PM.

[andy-hughes]

sylvania - I am so sorry to hear about your loss.

It is part of the human condition, and the grieving process, that we try and find rational reasons why a sudden death has occured.

A vital part of grieving and moving on with life, is trying to set things in order - with reasons for circumstances, and at the moment, you are denied this, hence your distress.

I hope that some of the qualified answers you have recveived have helped, and that ultimately, you will receive a definitive answer which will help you to deal with your loss.

[sylvania]

PM was done - Masive blood clot was the cause of death - but I don't know what caused blood clot. Even though I was a good friend of her - her husband and daughter have never been very talkative.
Funneral on thursday.

[Sqad]

sylvania....thanks for the update.......if course it would be nice to know the site of the clot, but it can't be helped.
The update is much appreciated.