Kahui twins' fatal hospital delay

Three month old twins Chris and Cru kahui were not feeding regularly before being admitted to hospital. Photo / supplied

Three-month-old twins Chris and Cru Kahui would have had a better chance of survival if they had been taken to hospital immediately after one stopped breathing, a medical expert told an inquest today.

Professor Carole Jenny, from Brown University in New York, said their prospects would have been much better if their father Chris Kahui had acted swiftly to seek medical attention.

Mr Kahui had performed CPR on Cru after finding him with blue lips. But he did not take the twins to hospital until the next day.

This could have made a huge difference in their chance for survival, she said.

Prof Jenny was one of four pathology and paediatrics specialists giving evidence at the inquest into the deaths of the twins. The inquest resumed in Auckland today after a break of seven months.

The twins died of head injuries in Auckland's Starship Hospital in 2006 and their father, Chris Kahui, was acquitted of their murders in May 2008.

His defence claimed that the injuries were caused by their mother, Macsyna King, who denied the killings.

The twins had difficulty feeding, which would indicate they had suffered brain damage, Prof Jenny told the inquest.

She was horrified nobody had noticed Cru's leg fracture, which would have caused him intense pain.

"Cru had tears in the cortex of his brain, and I can't imagine he would have been able to feed. He would not have cried normally either.

"Nobody noticed there was something horribly wrong as his leg was displaced," she said.

Both twins also showed signs of dehydration when they died, she added.

Prof Jenny said she found it quite "mystifying" that nobody seemed concerned the twins had not eaten for hours.

She said any baby who did not wake to feed in 12 to 15 hours should have alarmed their caregiver.

The nature of their brain injuries meant they would have been incapable of feeding in the usual way, Prof Jenny said.

Another expert, Dr Patrick Kelly, from Starship Hospital, told the inquest the twins died of severe head injuries which were not accidental.

"There is no other medical explanation to explain how they sustained traumatic brain injuries.

"Both twins were likely slammed against something. Their brain injuries were so severe they would have both collapsed into unconsciousness very soon after," Dr Kelly said.

The force to the twins' heads involved impact, he added.

The effect of the injuries on both twins would have been immediate and obvious, although he did not know if they were injured at the same time.

Coroner Garry Evans is expected to hear more evidence this week from family members, as well as child abuse experts.

- NZPA