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Boy who died on Disney coaster had heart defect
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted October 6, 2006, 6:36 PM EDT
The 12-year-old boy who died after riding a Walt Disney World roller coaster in June had a genetic heart defect that often goes undetected until it causes the person's sudden death.
The final report on the autopsy of Michael Russell, of Fort Campbell, Ky., found he had a genetic heart disease that included an abnormal aortic valve, according to the report released today by the Office of the Medical Examiner for Orange and Osceola counties.
While on vacation at Disney World with his family, Michael came off the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney-MGM Studios unconscious and in ventricular fibrillation -- a condition where the heart quivers but fails to pump any blood. Efforts by his father, Byron Russell, and paramedics to revive him did not succeed, and he died.
Sheri Blanton, spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said the autopsy found that the aortic valve in Michael's heart aortic valves had only two flaps instead of three. There also was evidence of a narrowing of the aorta.
He was born with the problems. Such defects, which frequently go unnoticed until an autopsy, can cause heart failure "at any moment," she said.
Dr. Sara Irrgang, associate medical examiner, performed the autopsy with consultation from Dr. Saroja?nBharati of the Heart Institute for Children in Chicago.
"As noted by the heart consultant, this is often an asymptomatic condition, with sudden death as the first presentation of the disease," Irrgang wrote in her report.
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted October 6, 2006, 6:36 PM EDT
The 12-year-old boy who died after riding a Walt Disney World roller coaster in June had a genetic heart defect that often goes undetected until it causes the person's sudden death.
The final report on the autopsy of Michael Russell, of Fort Campbell, Ky., found he had a genetic heart disease that included an abnormal aortic valve, according to the report released today by the Office of the Medical Examiner for Orange and Osceola counties.
While on vacation at Disney World with his family, Michael came off the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney-MGM Studios unconscious and in ventricular fibrillation -- a condition where the heart quivers but fails to pump any blood. Efforts by his father, Byron Russell, and paramedics to revive him did not succeed, and he died.
Sheri Blanton, spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said the autopsy found that the aortic valve in Michael's heart aortic valves had only two flaps instead of three. There also was evidence of a narrowing of the aorta.
He was born with the problems. Such defects, which frequently go unnoticed until an autopsy, can cause heart failure "at any moment," she said.
Dr. Sara Irrgang, associate medical examiner, performed the autopsy with consultation from Dr. Saroja?nBharati of the Heart Institute for Children in Chicago.
"As noted by the heart consultant, this is often an asymptomatic condition, with sudden death as the first presentation of the disease," Irrgang wrote in her report.
