Children’s Hospital Oakland is investigating why a 4-year-old Stockton boy went into cardiac arrest and died shortly after dental surgery at the hospital last week.
His family wants answers.
Jermaine Lee Harrison had complex cardiac problems that had required several surgeries and a pacemaker. So his dental surgery was performed in a hospital operating room instead of a dental office.
“The surgery went very well with no issues,” said Dr. James Hanson, the hospital’s vice president of medical affairs. “Unfortunately, however, after the procedure, his condition rapidly deteriorated to cardiac arrest.”
The hospital team was “surprised that he did not respond to resuscitative efforts,” Hanson said.
Jermaine had several cavities filled, some teeth extracted and other teeth capped.
“You’re talking about doing fairly extensive, time-consuming dental work,” Hanson said. He estimated the surgery took a couple of hours.
Jermaine had a breathing tube, and a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist gave him two types of commonly used inhaled anesthesia, which rendered the boy unconscious during the procedure, Hanson said.
When the operation ended, the breathing tube was taken out, and Jermaine was transferred to a recovery room, where he soon went into cardiac arrest.
The boy’s family told the Stockton Record that Jermaine was born with a hole in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles of his heart. He required open heart surgery and about 12 months later had a pacemaker installed.
He also had other heart problems that had required several surgeries, Hanson said.
Jermaine’s medical and dental team wanted to get his dental problems resolved because they worried that bacteria from his tooth infection would enter his bloodstream and infect his heart, Hanson said. They considered it likely that Jermaine would need additional open heart surgery, and this would be far riskier if his dental problems weren’t taken care of, Hanson said.
Jermaine’s family members could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but they told the Stockton Record that he was a happy and healthy boy before the dental surgery.
No cause of death has been determined. The county coroner’s office is performing an autopsy. The hospital also is conducting its own investigation.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy,” Hanson said. “Our … thoughts go out to the family.”
Hospital leaders want to determine what happened, Hanson said, in the hope they can prevent such deaths in the future.
“We all are in the business of taking care of kids,” he said. “Any time a child dies, we’re all devastated.”
Contact Sandy Kleffman at 925-943-8249.