Terri Schiavo case

====Initial medical assessments====
The cause of Schiavo's collapse was determined to be [[cardiac arrest]].<ref name="Cranford">{{cite journal|last=Cranford|first=Ronald|date=Summer 2005|title=Facts, Lies, and Videotapes: The Permanent Vegetative State and The Sad Case of Terri Schiavo|journal=The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics|volume=33|issue=2|pages=363–71|doi=10.1111/j.1748-720x.2005.tb00501.x|pmid=16083094|s2cid=13039529}}<!-- no url, so accessdate=2013-11-07 caused error --></ref> Her medical chart contained a note that "she apparently has been trying to keep her weight down with dieting by herself, drinking liquids most of the time during the day and drinking about 10–15 glasses of [[iced tea]]."<ref name="UStoday">{{cite news|title=Schiavo case highlights eating disorders|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-02-25-schiavo-eating-disorder_x.htm|access-date=November 28, 2011|newspaper=USA Today|date=February 26, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129064653/http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-02-25-schiavo-eating-disorder_x.htm|archive-date=November 29, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Upon admission to the hospital, she was noted as suffering from [[hypokalemia]] (low potassium levels): her serum [[potassium]] level was an abnormally low 2.0&nbsp;[[Equivalent (chemistry)|mEq]]/[[litre|L]] (the normal range for adults is 3.5–5.0&nbsp;mEq/L). Her [[sodium]] and [[calcium]] levels were normal.<ref name="SilentWitness">{{cite book|title=Silent Witness|author=Mark Fuhrman|publisher=William Morrow|year= 2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/silentwitnessunt00fuhr/page/67 67]|isbn=0-06-085337-9|url=https://archive.org/details/silentwitnessunt00fuhr/page/67}}</ref> [[Electrolyte disturbance|Electrolyte imbalance]] is often caused by [[water intoxication|drinking excessive fluids]], and a serious consequence of hypokalemia can be heart rhythm abnormalities, including [[sudden arrhythmia death syndrome]].<ref name="quote">Meyer J, et al. [http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0801/p483.html "Sudden Arrhythmia death Syndrome: Importance of the Long QT Syndrome"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502033511/http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0801/p483.html |date=May 2, 2012 }} ''Am Fam Physician''. 2003 Aug 1;68(3):483–488. Retrieved July 26, 2011.</ref> Schiavo was eventually switched from being fed by a [[nasogastric intubation|nasogastric feeding tube]] to a [[percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy]] (PEG) feeding tube. Garcia J. DeSousa, a board-certified [[neurologist]] in St. Petersburg, Florida, who previously treated Schiavo, cared for her during her initial admission to Humana Northside; both he and Victor Gambone, an internist and Schiavo family physician, independently made the diagnosis of persistent vegetative state within approximately one year after her sudden cardiac arrest.<ref name="Cranford" />