01 September 2023 , 22:02
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A popular actress and model has died after contracting a kidney illness related to a botched Brazillian butt lift, her lawyers have confirmed.
43-year-old Argentine actress Silvina Luna died on Thursday, August 31. She had been hospitalised for 79 days at Hospital Italiano where she was treated for complications as a result of her 2011 surgery.
Her brother, Ezequiel Luna, gave doctors the approval to remove her from a ventilator at noon on Thursday, according to local news outlets. Silvina's attorney, Fernando Burlando, said the tragic loss was "an ending that aches, hurts".
He hopes her battle will make authorities "wake up, so that society will take note and there will be no more deaths". The actress had the procedure around June or July 2011 and it was carried out by cosmetic surgeon Anïbal Lotocki.
She underwent the surgery in 2011 but developed complications which hospitalised her (silvinalunaoficial/Instagram)
Silvina spent 79 days in hospital before being taken off a ventilator (silvinalunaoficial/Instagram)Dr Lotocki is being charged with the 2021 death of a patient he operated on in 2010. He injected Silvina with a liquid that contained polymethylmethacrylate, which is banned by Argentina's National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology. The transparent, rigid plastic substance is used by manufacturers as a substitute for glass in vehicle parts, lenses, panels and windows.
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Silvina first required medical attention in 2015 when she was treated for kidney stones. Doctors diagnosed her with renal insufficiency and hypercalcemia, and she was put on weekly dialysis treatments until a kidney transplant was available.
In 2016, she travelled to Miami where she met with Argentinian doctor Critsitan Pérez, who removed the dangerous substance from her buttocks. Speaking to C5N television, he explained: "Silvina developed an autoimmune disease caused by the medications as a consequence of her surgeries. All patients develop severe kidney failure and end up dying."
As she was waiting for a new kidney, Silvina's condition deteriorated and she was hospitalised on June 13. She was put under sedation for almost two weeks, until June 29, when she was removed from the ventilator.
Silvina was a former model and famous actress (Getty Images)
The former model underwent a Brazillian butt lift in 2011 but suffered years of kidney complications (silvinalunaoficial/Instagram)On August 19, the hospital issued a statement that Silvina was "breathing on her own, with kinesiological, nutritional and psychological rehabilitation". But in recent days she contracted a bacteria and was once again intubated on Wednesday, August 30, before being taken off life support the following day.
Silvina's close friend and entertainment journalist Ángel del Brito appeared on LAM, which airs on América TV, saying that doctors had to explain to her brother that they couldn't do any more to save her as she wasn't responding to medication. He said: "It was a very difficult decision that her brother had to make, obviously recommended by the doctors, who on several occasions were considering it, because it was very difficult for the only direct relative that Silvina had, to make the decision about his sister's life."
The Buenos Aires Attorney General's Office has launched a probe into Silvina's death and ordered her corpse to be sent to a city morgue for an autopsy to be carried out. Her death comes just two weeks after TV host and fashion expert Mariano Caprarola died from complications of a 2010 butt lift surgery also performed by Dr Lotocki.
In February 2022, Dr Lotocki was sentenced to four years in prison for a medical malpractice lawsuit brought forward by Silvina and three other women. In July, a court banned him from practising medicine for five years.
However, the surgeon is not behind bars. He remains free while the National Chamber of Criminal Appeals reviews his punishment.