A WOMAN from Wokingham died of a blood clot three weeks after dislocating her artificial hip in a fall, an inquest has heard.
Jacqueline Denise Hopkins, 70, of Gorrick Square died on May 1 this year after suffering a pulmonary embolism at home.
The inquest, held at Reading Town Hall on Thursday, October 12, heard how Mrs Hopkins, who had a history of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis and had undergone a full hip replacement 20 years ago, had suffered a fall while reaching down in a photobooth at Tesco on April 8.
In the fall, she suffered a dislocation to her right replacement hip, and was hospitalised as a result.
The inquest, led by Chief Coroner for Berkshire Peter Bedford, heard how Mrs Hopkins’ hip was successfully relocated and she was allowed to return home, but over the next three weeks she suffered recurring back pain, bruising and a rash, which doctors believed could be shingles.
Mrs Hopkins returned to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, in Reading, on two further occasions following the initial fall, but CT scans and X-rays revealed nothing untoward.
She was prescribed pain relief and valium to help her sleep, but her family told the inquest that she would go for days without proper sleep, and would often be unable to get out of her bed at all due to the pain.
The day before she died, her family noted that Mrs Hopkins did not get out of bed until around midday but due to her excruciating pain she could not move very far.
At 11.20pm, she headed back to bed but could not make it past the first three steps on the stairs. She called out to her husband in agony, but she collapsed in his arms and lost consciousness. Paramedics were called, but they were unable to revive Mrs Hopkins and she died in the early hours of May 1.
A post-mortem revealed that Mrs Hopkins had suffered a pulmonary embolism, caused by a blood clot which had originated in her pelvic vein.
An examination and X-ray also revealed that Mrs Hopkins had suffered another hip dislocation and a spinal fracture, which Mr Bedford deduced could have resulted from her final collapse on the stairs.
Dr Paolo Consigliere, an orthopaedic and trauma consultant at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, gave evidence during the inquest.
He had examined Mrs Hopkins when she attended the hospital on April 22, and found no evidence of a fracture or further hip dislocation.
He told the inquest: “Pain manifests from the top of the body down, so if Mrs Hopkins was suffering a mechanical problem in her hip, the pain would not present higher up in her back.”
The inquest also heard how Dr Consigliere had screened Mrs Hopkins for possible deep vein thrombosis, but she did not meet any of the criteria deeming her to be at risk.
Mr Bedford and Dr Consigliere agreed that Mrs Hopkins probably developed the blood clot when she dislocated her replacement hip during the initial fall on April 8.
The blood clot then remained in her pelvic area until the night before her death, when it broke away and travelled towards her lungs, causing the pulmonary embolism.
Summing up, Mr Bedford gave a short form conclusion, saying: “Mrs Hopkins had a history of a hip replacement in 1997, but suffered a fall on 8th of April which caused her hip to dislocate.
“This was relocated at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, but she attended again on April 10 and on April 22 with back pain which was originally diagnosed as shingles.
“On the 30th of April she collapsed at home and could not be revived.
“A post-mortem showed a pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis.”
