A 23-year-old Greenwich University student died following a routine injection which should have seen her discharged from hospital within two hours, an inquest heard.

Brooke Richardson, from Rendlesham in Suffolk, died from cardiac arrest after undergoing an Ajmaline heart test at St Thomas' Hospital in London on December 12 2019.

The procedure, which pumps the chemical into a patient's vein to help diagnose the heart disorder Brugada syndrome, would normally see a patient return home after two hours.

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In very rare cases, patients can have an arrhythmia attack that would require doctors to act fast and use a defibrillator to resuscitate a patient and stabilise the heartbeat.

The inquest heard that death from the procedure was extremely rare.

The inquest into the death of the former senior support worker and University of Greenwich therapeutic counselling student was opened at Inner South London Coroner's Court.

Senior Coroner Andrew Harris said: "This death was reported as having occurred immediately an Ajmaline provocation test conducted in the hospital and an autopsy report confirmed the death as from cardiac arrhythmia.

"Given the proximity of this that she went into a fatal arrhythmia immediately after this injection, there's reason to suggest this death is unnatural so I have a statutory duty to open an inquest which I do so now."

Mum Lisa Richardson, who attended the pre-inquest review remotely, said: "I would like to understand the reaction that my daughter had after receiving the medication.

"From my understanding, the operation is usually without incident.

"I am also slightly concerned the antidepressants she was on may have had a reaction with the Ajmaline."

She added: "My concerns are very high for future patients of Ajmaline tests. I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else if this has caused this."

The court heard Brooke had two previous hospital stays after arrhythmia attacks in 2015 and 2018, but the family had no understanding of what caused this.

The coroner asked the mum: "There is one matter which we learned in the original report and that is there was an episode of arrhythmia that may have been triggered by taking cocaine."

She responded: "I don't know if she had ever taken cocaine. I only know about it from the report.

"I don't know whether she had taken it that night. I don't know.

"From what I am aware, if it was taken then it was taken as a one-off."

The coroner requested Brooke's boyfriend to be contacted to make a statement on whether she was a regular user of the drug as it may have caused further heart issues.

Mr Harris said: "It may be the answer to your question whether she had any medication or drug that poorly reacted in her system.

"We don't know whether the one-off use of a drug or regular drug use may have made any difference and we should explore that to get an understanding.

"The boyfriend might know. The court will ask the boyfriend for a full statement."

Rachel Syed, representing Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, said that attempts were made to resuscitate Brooke but were unsuccessful.

She said: "[Death] is a very rare but recognised complication of the needed Ajmaline test for Brugada syndrome. There is no suggestion it was foreseeable in this case."

The inquest, which was provisionally set for July at Southwark Coroner's Court, will explore why there was a reaction to Ajmaline, any underlying conditions Brooke may have had, interactions with other drugs, and whether this reaction could have been prevented by prior tests.