Rare heart defect caused builder's death

11:59am Friday 18th July 2008

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A rare heart defect caused the death of a Polish builder from Morden, an inquest has heard.

The body of Adema Zareba, 34, was discovered by his room mate at their home in Ravensbury Avenue earlier this year.

Yesterday an inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard that the builder had suffered a heart attack caused by Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW), an extremely rare condition.

Police and ambulance crews were called to the house after the body of Mr Zareba was discovered at 5.50am on May 1 this year.

The court heard that Mr Zareba had been complaining of chest pains the night before his death.

Pathologist Dr Heung Chong, who examined Mr Zareba after his death, said that he was an otherwise healthy man whose body showed no sign of heavy drinking or drug abuse.

But when the labourer's body was examined his lungs contained an unusually high amount of water, a sign that his heart was not pumping correctly.

Mr Zareba's family in Poland confirmed that he had been diagnosed with WPW as a child, and had undergone operations and taken medication while growing up to fight the condition.

People with the syndrome are born with an extra connecting passage in their heart. This can disrupt electrical activity in the organ, and cause it to beat dangerously fast.

WPW is found in around 1 per cent of the population, but very rarely leads to heart attacks or sudden deaths.

The builder, who was single, had been living in London since August 2007. The court heard that he regularly sent wages home to support his family in Eastern Europe.

At the inquest on Thursday coroner Dr Paul Knapman concluded that Mr Zareba died of acute heart failure due to Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.

He recorded a death due to natural causes.