«Mistaking myocarditis for anxiety». Two doctors fromAurelia Hospital are under investigation for the death of the twenty-eight-year-old actress Francesca Carocciwho died within 48 hours of being discharged on painkillers in March.
The doctors would have recognized the chest pain as a manifestation of anxiety, but it would have been the beginning of myocarditis.
INSIGHTS
The story
Francesca Carocci she died in march 2024 in soli 28 years old. A strong pang in the chest, a rush to the hospital and a discharge with the instruction to take painkillers. Two days later, the new fatal illness for the young Roman actress. The family immediately filed a complaint to understand if there are medical responsibilities. It is suspected that the girl had myocarditis, which went undiagnosed and was therefore treated only with painkillers. Luigi Cipollonimedical examiner appointed by Rome Prosecutor’s Officeit would emerge that the results of the tests carried out on the girl needed further investigation.
The investigations
The Rome Prosecutor’s Office opened a file. Two doctors ofAurelia Hospital they are under investigation on charges of manslaughter in the healthcare sector. The prosecutor has closed the investigation, as Corriera della Sera explains, and the request for indictment should arrive soon. Following the values obtained from the electrocardiogram, it emerged that the doctors should have carried out further tests on the twenty-eight year old instead of just the painkillers with which the girl was discharged. If Francesca had been kept in hospital and subjected to the necessary tests she could have been saved. The indictment states that further tests could have detected myocarditis and the subsequent cardiac arrest.
The defense of the hospital
L’Aurelia Hospital declared regarding the case: «Our visits were thorough. We carried out complete and in-depth clinical examinations and assessments requested for the symptoms presented by the patient. And the young woman was already carrying out the prescribed treatment.” Not only that: «The tests carefully evaluated by the facility’s cardiology team categorically excluded a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. The same therapy previously taken by the patient at home was simply confirmed.”
What is myocarditis
The myocarditis it is an inflammation of the heart muscle, which can present itself in a very variable way and have different evolutions: from complete recovery to compromising cardiac function. As the website explainsHumanitas: «Myocarditis mostly occurs as a consequence of viral infections; the main viruses involved are Coxsackievirus, Cytomegalovirus, hepatitis C virus, Herpes virus, HIV, Adenovirus, Parvovirus”. Among the causes, when associated with viral infections, there is also the direct action of the infectious agent which can rarely be bacteria, fungi or protozoa. Among the causes we also find autoimmune and systemic inflammatory diseases and exposure to drugs or toxic substances. The most frequent symptom of myocarditis is chest pain, exactly what he had experienced Francesca Carocci and it is similar to a heart attack. Other symptoms are: “Shortness of breath, fever, fainting and loss of consciousness, sore throat and other respiratory tract infections or gastrointestinal disorders.”
Diagnosis and treatment
It is specified by the prosecution that Francesca she would still be alive if more tests had been done. Let us then understand what tests allow the diagnosis: the electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests (cardiac enzymes and inflammatory markers) and the echocardiogram. In stable patients, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging allows a non-invasive diagnosis, for unstable patients an endomyocardial biopsy may be indicated. Hospitalization is generally required for initial monitoring and administration of therapy, often standard pharmacological therapy. In complicated forms, hospitalization in intensive care may be indicated. Patients suffering from myocarditis are recommended to abstain from physical activity for at least 3-6 months, and in any case until subsequent investigations and blood tests return to normal.