German porn actress Sexy Cora is the latest victim of plastic surgery deaths. Put into a coma after receiving breast implants – it was her sixth surgery – the 23-year-young woman never woke up. Cause of death: operating room negligence?
Death after Six Breast Implants
An operation that would have amounted to approximately 800 grams of silicone per breast instead killed 23-year-young Carolin Berger Wosnitza (a.k.a. Sexy Cora). Bild reports that Cora underwent surgery for her sixth set of breast implants but suffered a heart attack on the operating table.
She allegedly remained without a heartbeat for 15 minutes and was placed into an induced coma. She died after suffering from massive brain damage. The presence of four different accounts surrounding her stopped heart raise a number of questions, not the least of which are the protocols observed in the operating room.
The physicians in charge of the operation stand accused of negligent manslaughter.
Breast Augmentation Deaths: Common or Rare?
“The annual rate of death from breast augmentation surgery per se is virtually nil,” says Howard Rosenberg, MD, on the MedHelp Forum. The doctor’s main concern is what happens after surgery, since it appears that women receiving breast implants have a higher suicide rate.
Considering the numbers, it stands to reason that the risks are clearly quite low on American shores. Surgery Encyclopedia explains that between 1992 and 1998 the number of breast augmentations increased by 306 percent. In excess of 2 million American women currently own breast implants. Breast augmentation deaths are usually the result of anesthesia errors or complications.
Another reason for plastic surgery deaths following breast enhancement is the (lack of) training the surgeon received. “Unfortunately, there are unqualified poorly-trained individuals who are performing breast augmentation, and deaths have occurred at their hands,” says board-certified surgeon Richard Dowden, M.D.
Courting Danger: Remember Sheyla Hershey?
Sheyla Hershey, in her attempt to showcase the world’s largest breasts, did not want to stop at a size 38KKK but planned on undergoing another surgery that would translate into breast implants equating 2.6 gallons of silicone. After 18 surgeries, American doctors have told Hershey that they will not go bigger. She went doctor-shopping in Brazil.
Her story does not end well; but it is not fatal. Late in 2010, Hershey had her breast implants removed after a severe staph infection threatened her life. Fox 26 News reported that the surgeons also took out the majority of her own breast tissue, since it was too damaged to save. Even so, she has decided to go back to more breast implants.
A Fox follow up report explains that she wants to go back to 3,500 CCs of saline per breast. She plans on beginning her breast augmentations in the U.S. and then finish up the procedures in Brazil — when American doctors will not go bigger.
Sources
Bild: “Verwirrung um Coras OP-Protokolle”
MedHelp Forum: “How common is death from breast augmentation surgery?”
Surgery Encyclopedia: “Breast Implants”
Richard Dowden, M.D.: “Could someone ever die from breast implant surgery?”
AC: “Sheyla Hershey Owns World’s Largest Breasts and Plans on More Surgeries”
Fox 26 News: “Sheyla Hershey Has World’s Largest Breast Implants Removed”
My Fox Atlanta: “Sheyla Hershey Without Record-Breaking Breast Implants”