Silvina Luna died on August 31 after a long deterioration of her health

(CNN Spanish) -- On Wednesday, the preliminary results of the autopsy of Argentine actress Silvina Luna, who died on August 31 at age 43, were known.

According to the document, during the autopsy "venous thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism were observed, in principle, suitable for the lethal mechanism." However, the report clarifies that "histopathological and toxicological studies" were requested, and that once they have those results they will proceed "to answer possible expert points."

After a long analysis of the studies carried out and the medical history that Luna went through, the experts conclude that the death of Luna "determined macroscopically, has been: causes to be determined", and detailed the complementary studies that will be carried out.

Luna died after being hospitalized for 79 days. She herself had revealed in her social networks that she lived a medical ordeal, after what she said was a poorly performed aesthetic operation by the doctor Aníbal Lotocki. He even said his kidneys were failing.

The autopsy was ordered by Judge Luis Schlegel, in charge of the National Criminal and Correctional Court 60.

advertising

• Who is Aníbal Lotocki? The controversies surrounding the doctor who operated on Silvina Luna

After Luna's death, Ileana Lombardo, Lotocki's lawyer, had told CNN that the fact "should not" affect the legal situation of her client, since "the question of the causal link between the product and the diseases has already been judged." Asked what effect the autopsy result could have on Lotocki, Lombardo said "none, because the cause of death was not determined."

CNN also reached out to the attorney for Luna's family for comment on the autopsy result.

The artist achieved fame when she participated in 2001 in the reality show "Big Brother".

Then she had an extensive career in television and theater, participated in programs such as "Los Roldán" or "Poné a Francella", and was a presenter of different programs, some related to "Big Brother".

Cosmetic surgery and health problems

Luna was battling serious health problems that she says began in the wake of cosmetic surgery 12 years ago and forced her away from the public scene. She was hospitalized at the Italian Hospital in Buenos Aires.

She had undergone surgery in October and November 2011, and in 2013 she was diagnosed with kidney problems as a result of that operation, as she explained in an interview with America TV in May of this year. In recent months she was hospitalized several times and receiving dialysis at least three times a week while waiting for a kidney transplant.

"Without this machine I could not live," the actress said in a video she shared in April on her social networks, where she was in full treatment.

She added in the interview with America TV that during the last years she lived multiple episodes of hypercalcemia – a blood disease – that forced her to undergo frequent medical check-ups, and that, over time, her picture became more complex.

The complaint against Aníbal Lotocki

Lotocki is an Argentine doctor dedicated to cosmetic surgery who defines himself as a "specialist in body modeling".

"From your investment we make your best version," says one of his two accounts on Instagram. In 2022, Lotocki was sentenced to four years in prison for "repeated serious injuries on four occasions," according to a statement from the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF). One of the victims of this malpractice was Luna.

According to the MPF, Luna was operated on in October and November 2011 by Lotocki and there was placed polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) microspheres, which caused "anatomical alterations in the buttocks and thighs."

In the other three cases of the serious injury conviction, Lotocki also used PMMA, according to the indictment.

"[Lotocki] did not attend the most minimal rules of professional practice: he attended in places without authorization, with products that he could not use and even wanted to make his patients responsible for the harmful consequences of his own criminal actions," said prosecutor Sandro Abraldes when requesting the sentence, which at that time requested that it be seven years and nine months in prison.

Before the accusation, Lotocki said "that he had complied with all the regulations and with what medical practice allowed," and that he had also "used an approved product in the procedures," according to the MPF.

In July of this year, at the request of prosecutor Abraldes, Chamber 3 of the National Chamber of Cassation in Criminal and Correctional Matters ordered the precautionary disqualification of Lotocki "to practice the profession of doctor, until his situation is definitively resolved in the case where he was convicted for the serious injuries suffered by four of his patients."

In addition, in June Judge Luis Schelgel prosecuted Lotocki without preventive detention for the simple homicide with eventual intent of the patient Rodolfo Christian Zárate, who died in April 2021 "after complications from a scheduled surgical intervention," according to an MPF publication on the investigation of the case.

The prosecutor in charge of the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office No. 1, Pablo Recchini, said in the indictment: "Lotocki made a voluntary and conscious decision to carry out the surgery that triggered Zárate's death," and that the doctor kept in mind "the high risk of death" since "he knew perfectly the patient's clinical history."

Recchini considered that the evidence "clearly demonstrates that Aníbal Lotocki, despite being aware of the risks to which he subjected his patient, not only foresaw the possibility of death, but accepted it and acted according to his own interests, operate at all costs before the ban and collect his fees."