A toddler has died from a rare heart condition after hospital doctors ignored his parents’ fears and repeatedly dismissed the symptoms as a chest infection, an inquest is expected to hear.
Archie Squire, from Kent, was rushed to hospital more than 10 times in his first and only year of life after suffering from constipation and difficulty breathing.
But his parents, Lauren Parrish and Jake Squire, say he was discharged several times with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis, a common respiratory infection.
In November of last year he was admitted for the last time in Queen Elizabeth the The Queen Mother hospital in Margate with constipation and vomiting.
However, two days later, just three days after his first birthday, he died after two separate cardiac arrests.
Archie Squire was taken to the hospital more than 10 times in the space of a year for constipation and even difficulty breathing. But his parents, Lauren Parrish and Jake Squire, say he was repeatedly discharged with diagnoses of bronchiolitis, a common infection.
In November last year, he was admitted back to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate suffering from constipation and vomiting. However, two days later, just three days after his first birthday, he died following two separate cardiac arrests.
An autopsy found that Archie had a rare heart condition, called isolated cardiac ventricular inversion, that had gone unnoticed.
This occurs when the chambers of the heart (the ventricles) are in the wrong positions, meaning the left atrium enters the right ventricle and the right atrium enters the left ventricle.
Studies They have suggested that there has been Fewer than 50 cases of isolated ventricular inversion reported worldwide since 1966.
An East Kent Hospitals Trust inquest into the death, ordered by the coroner, reportedly found there were “missed opportunities” to recognise an “abnormal cardiac shadow” on an X-ray in October 2023.
An echocardiogram (a test used to look at the heart) is said to have been ordered in the same month, but was not requested as urgent.
At the time of his death, Archie had not yet undergone the ultrasound.
Failings were also reported to have been found in other aspects of Archie’s care, including delays in accepting GP referrals, clinic letters and previous admissions and attendances not being reviewed and medical information not always being shared appropriately.
The 89-page report prepared ahead of Archie’s inquest also claimed doctors failed to consider a broader diagnosis beyond bronchiolitis.
Archie was described by his parents as “a happy boy who was always smiling.” He is survived by his younger brother Albie, as well as his mother and father.
The pre-inquest review hearing into his death will take place today at North East Kent Coroner’s Court.
East Kent Hospitals Trust has been contacted for comment.
