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Suggest Treatment For Bronchopneumonia

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Posted on Tue, 16 Aug 2016
Question: My Dad passed away from Bronchopneumonia as per the autopsy report. He had not been sick prior, flu like symptoms the day before he died, he went into cardiac arrest then and passed away.
My dad was a diabetic.

Is this a normal turn of events and could it been preventable.
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Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
whether it was preventable or not depends on various factors...

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

dying after only one day is very uncommon but it may happen. It could happen as a result of complications like arrhythmia, worsening of pre-existing heart failure, etc. I suppose pulmonary embolism or acute myocardial infarction should have been detected during the autopsy so functional causes have to be blamed.

Since your father had symptoms for only one day prior to the event, preventing it would have been difficult. If bacteria caused this pneumonia then antibiotic treatment might have increased his chances for survival. Keep in mind though that in most cases the antibiotics require a couple of days to reverse an unfavorable situation (or even more, depending on the patient and the involved pathogen).

So I guess there were not much to do... Visiting a doctor when a patient has fever and cough is essential particularly for patients with serious medical history like diabetes. Most of the time proper and timely treatment helps the patient, but there are cases like your father's that a complication occurs too soon to be prevented...

I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3816 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Bronchopneumonia

Brief Answer: whether it was preventable or not depends on various factors... Detailed Answer: Hello, dying after only one day is very uncommon but it may happen. It could happen as a result of complications like arrhythmia, worsening of pre-existing heart failure, etc. I suppose pulmonary embolism or acute myocardial infarction should have been detected during the autopsy so functional causes have to be blamed. Since your father had symptoms for only one day prior to the event, preventing it would have been difficult. If bacteria caused this pneumonia then antibiotic treatment might have increased his chances for survival. Keep in mind though that in most cases the antibiotics require a couple of days to reverse an unfavorable situation (or even more, depending on the patient and the involved pathogen). So I guess there were not much to do... Visiting a doctor when a patient has fever and cough is essential particularly for patients with serious medical history like diabetes. Most of the time proper and timely treatment helps the patient, but there are cases like your father's that a complication occurs too soon to be prevented... I hope you find my comments helpful! Kind Regards!