A delay in the diagnosis of a rare heart infection “did not more than minimally contribute” to the death of Kevin Campbell, a coroner has found. The former Arsenal striker died aged 54 at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) last year.
Campbell was said to be fit and well until around January 2024, when he was first admitted to MRI for seven weeks. An inquest in Manchester was told that tests showed he had severe heart and kidney failure but following treatment, including dialysis, he was deemed healthy enough to be discharged. Campbell lost weight during his hospital stay from 124kg to 98kg but it had plummeted to just 59kg when he was readmitted two months later on 17 May.
The area coroner for Manchester, Zak Golombek, said Campbell was “very unwell” at that stage and medics felt there was some continuation of the heart and kidney failure, with signs of an infection of unknown cause. His condition continued to deteriorate as further investigations and tests in early June confirmed a diagnosis of infective endocarditis. Medical treatment then continued until his death from multi-organ failure.
An internal investigation by the hospital accepted the infection – caused by bacteria entering the blood and travelling to the heart – could have been diagnosed earlier and that “more curiosity” should have been shown by clinicians over Campbell’s significant weight loss.
But the inquest was also told that he would “almost certainly” not been been fit enough to undertake “high risk” open-heart surgery if the infection had been detected earlier during his final admission. Recording a conclusion of death by natural causes, Golombek said: “Kevin died from a naturally occurring illness which very sadly on 15 June reached its natural end.”
Campbell scored 59 goals in 228 games for Arsenal and, alongside the 1990-91 league title, also won the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup with the club. He also played for Nottingham Forest, Trabzonspor, Everton, West Brom and Cardiff.