In a small percentage of the cases co-existing disease was classified as a contributory or sole cause. Heart disease and lung disease were most commonly identified in those cases as contributory. Bear in mind that we are speaking only of deaths related to anesthesia mishaps which account for a fraction of perioperative mortality. How many more we cannot estimate since there is no uniform reporting requirement. Three quarters of those patients who arrest from anesthesia will be resuscitated and live, yet only a small number will leave the hospital alive and well.
Faulty technique accounts for nearly one half of all cases of anesthesia death or cerebral damage.
Most common under this category is inadvertent esophagel intubation with the endotracheal tube resulting in fatal lack of oxygenation of the lungs. Failure to intubate the patient with disease of the neck or oropharynx is second. Included are neck hematomas and swelling of the throat from ludwigs angina or peritonsillar abscess. Misuse of ventilator apparatus is nearly as common as failure of proper endotracheal intubation. It may be important to your case to find out how many hours of anesthesia the anesthetist involved had performed prior to the catastrophe.