Death after liposuction: case report and review of the literature

We report the case of a 41-year-old woman who died after surgical intervention for liposuction. The case was studied by a methodological approach including examination of clinical records and documentation, analysis of anatomo-histopathological findings and evaluation of physicians' behaviour. Autopsy excluded the lethal complications most frequently associated with liposuction (pulmonary embolism, sepsis, necrotizing fasciitis, perforation of abdominal organs) and identified the cause of death as 'massive necrosis of brain-stem and cerebellum, due to spontaneous thrombosis of the basilar and cerebellar district'. Analysis of the physicians' behaviour, together with a review of the literature, excluded medical errors or malpractice. The Court of Law ruled the death as a fatal unforeseeable complication of the operation. The medico-legal interest of the case lies in the singular anatomo-pathological cause of death, discussed in relation to the hypothesis of professional responsibility after surgical intervention for liposuction.