Paediatric neurology opinion
Hi
Ok, I have skimmed all the threads and this is my take.
This young lady was tragically unlucky.
Did the flight have anything to do with things? Of course not. This perception that lights can cause clots all over the body is rubbish. The low 02 and lack of movement (venous stasis) can increase risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis and secondary Pulmonary Emboli, but mainly in those with pre-existing morbidity (Fat, Drunk, Smokers, The pill, female, past history of clots, hypercoagulation disorders, etc). A flight does not mean a spontaneous huge clot can appear in your brain.
So what did this young lady have? From what I have read, a cerebral Haemorrhage. So why talk of a clot? Simple, you bleed into a sealed box (skull) and a clot forms.
This led to all of her symptoms. The sudden rupture of an cerebral annuerysm is likely, but any acute bleed could cause this - subarachnoird, etc.
Why did her heart stop? The pressure in her head was probably so large that in was damaging the normal messages required for cardiovascular function. These kids strangely get high bllod pressure and low pulse, where as most people under stress get the opposite.
What about the prior headache - could be unrelated or could be start of slow bleed.
So the big questions -
did the ride cause it? Unlikely.
Did the ride set it off? Probable.
Should it be closed down? Of course not! Any stress could have set off the bleed. Diving, football, a drink/drug binge, you name it! Most thrill rides do just that and so they warn you that you must be of good health to ride - to be able to deal with stress.
Now of course, I am not suggesting this was her fault. What I am suggesting is the unlucky people with such problems are at risk form any stress and population screening would frankly be not cost effective (maybe one life per 3-5 million dollars - better off spending money hiring personal trainers to train up all the fat kids who will be dead at 40 from diabetes/heart disease or paying cash for people to join Bone marrow registers so we can cure more metabolic children early so they doulbe there life expectancy).
This is a horrific accident, but it sounds like disney responded well and I dont think the family or disney or any one is at fault. And I dont think that the occasions when undiagnosed heart/chest/vascular problems cause these sort of incidents are reasons to stop thrill rides. At most, a warning that there is a chance you may have an undiagnosed condition that could respond badly to the high stresses of the ride or something.
Now when a cable breaks or cars fall off tracks, then I will blame disney!!!
Hope that opinion is of interest,
Md0u80a2
Paediatric Neurologist
