Irregular Heartbeat Caused Girl’s Death

A 13-year-old girl who collapsed in her school cafeteria and died in March probably suffered from a spontaneous and fatal irregular heartbeat, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Monday.

Toxicology, neuropathology and microbiology tests ruled out foul play or improper medical attention in connection with the March 7 death of ninth-grader Vanessa Escobedo at Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, said coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier. The conclusions support an earlier finding by the Los Angeles Fire Department that a school nurse made the right decision by not administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Nurse Marge Gardner stood by for paramedics, while fellow students from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s largest magnet program prayed over their classmate as she lay outside the lunch area.

“The pathologist said in his opinion that they found no significant trauma or anything to really tell us what she died from,” Carrier said. “So we [suspect] no foul play and don’t think anyone made mistakes in this case.”

Dr. Kevin Shannon, a pediatric cardiologist at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, said the diagnosis is both vague and, most likely, accurate.

“Sudden death in otherwise healthy young people is rare,” Shannon said of the condition that affects only one child in 10 million. “An irregular heartbeat is almost the only diagnosis that does not show up in an autopsy. You come to this conclusion by eliminating all the other choices.”

According to school officials, Vanessa had current immunizations and no known medical problems. She was pronounced dead at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center an hour and a half after she collapsed. Shannon said when a severe irregular heartbeat occurs, victims usually die within seven minutes.

One of the most common causes of sudden cardiac death, Shannon said, is a genetic disease that creates irregular heart proteins.

“Unfortunately, the only way to predict this type of death is when one person in the family dies. The whole family should be checked and given the proper medication,” Shannon said.