The death of a woman shortly after a miscarriage in her fourth month of pregnancy has been linked to an Escherichia coli infection following her amniocentesis, an amniotic fluid test that is generally recommended for older women to look for birth defects.
The woman’s mother, Huang Mei-hung (黃美鴻), attributed the deaths of her daughter and the fetus to the procedure performed by obstetrician Lee Chien-chung (李建忠) at the Mei Tsun Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic and demanded to know why the family’s happiness had become a tragedy.
Lee said he also “blamed himself.”
National Kaohsiung Normal University chief secretary Fang Hsin-yuan (方信元) said the woman, surnamed Chen (陳), had gone into septic shock before she was sent to the hospital, adding that the hospital turned to antibiotics as a last resort to save her life.
“We were able to identify the bacteria as the deadly Escherichia coli using a culture. Although Chen had responded to the antibiotic therapy, it did not stop her condition from deteriorating rapidly,” Fang said.
Lee added that a preliminary investigation has ruled out unsanitary equipment as the cause of Chen’s infection, but the actual cause has yet to be determined.
Chen became pregnant at the end of last year at age 34 and was advised to have the amniotic fluid test on March 7 at the Greater Taichung clinic.
“My daughter had been living with her husband in Taichung since they got married after she graduated from National Kaohsiung Normal University… She was so happy after the procedure and told me she was carrying a healthy baby boy,” Huang said.
Huang said Chen developed a fever and discomfort right after she arrived home. She was rushed to Greater Taichung’s China Medical University Hospital on March 9, after her symptoms continued to worsen.
“The doctor told us that my daughter’s baby no longer had a heartbeat and that he had to induce labor to expel the dead fetus. What we did not expect was that she would die of infection-induced septicemia on March 20,” Huang said.
Lee said he wished he had not performed the procedure on Chen.
“There is a 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent chance of infection, miscarriage and stillbirth for women having the procedure, but the possibility of infection developing into septicemia is almost non-existent,” Lee said.
Lee said he had performed the procedure for the past two decades without a patient developing complications.
“Nevertheless, Mrs Chen still died of septicemia and I blame myself for that,” Lee said. “I think Chen’s amniotic fluid could have leaked from the entry site of the needle and caused the infection,” he said.
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