Mother, 32, dies after breast enlargement operation triggers rare immune reaction
A MOTHER died after breast enlargement surgery caused her rare autoimmune condition to flare up.
Kandi du Cros, 32, said it felt like she was being poisoned as her condition deteriorated two months after she had the implants, an inquest heard.
Even though she could barely walk, her GP and NHS 111 call handlers told her she merely had a viral infection which did not require treatment.
But she suffered multiple organ failure and was taken to hospital, where she died four days later.
The inquest heard that Mrs du Cros, a hairdresser and mother of one from St Austell, Cornwall, suffered from mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD). She had been diagnosed in 2004 but was able to lead a full, healthy life without the need for medication.
Having breast implants was not seen as a risk but it was probable the surgery caused her condition to flare up, the inquest in Truro, Cornwall, heard.
Mrs du Cros became progressively worse, her husband Raymond said.
She even asked friends to take their son to school and told her mother: ‘It feels like I’m being poisoned.’
Mr du Cros questioned whether doctors should have carried out more tests before she underwent breast enlargement surgery at the private Duchy Hospital in Truro. He also said he wanted to know why medics did not realise sooner how ill his wife had become before she was admitted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital (RCH) in Treliske in January 2014.
The inquest was told that her MCTD probably triggered a rise in abnormal antibodies. Small blood clots formed in her organs and led her heart, liver and spleen to shut down.
Dr David Hutchinson, RCH consultant rheumatologist, said the surgery probably caused the immune reaction but it was ‘not unreasonable’ for Mrs du Cros to have undergone the procedure given the information at hand at the time. The inquest continues.