Luana Andrade, a 29-year-old Brazilian TV star, model, and social media personality died Tuesday morning in São Paulo, Brazil, after undergoing liposuction on her thighs and knees with a private doctor at São Luiz Hospital.
Andrade went into cardiac arrest about 2 ½ hours after the surgery, according to the Daily Mail.
A hospital spokesperson however, also told the Mail the “surgery was interrupted,” and that tests then revealed “massive thrombosis,” a condition in which “blood clots block veins or arteries,” according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“She was having a cosmetic procedure, lipo on her thigh. She did abs and was going to do legs. The fat on the knee was where the fatality happened.”
Andrade’s Manager, Marcos Moraes, to columnist Fábia Oliveira, at the Metrópoles
Andrade was pronounced dead at around 5:30 am on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, the cause of her death recorded as a pulmonary embolism.
A pulmonary embolism, or PE, is a blood clot that develops in a blood vessel in the body—often in the leg—which then “travels to a lung artery where it suddenly blocks blood flow,” Hopkins defines.
Luana Andrade was an influential Brazilian social media personality, former TV star, and the creator of the Lukand clothing brand.
Joao Hadad, Andrade’s boyfriend of two years and her costar in Power Couple Brasil 6 (2022), shared a moving tribute in remembrance of Andrade on Tuesday: “I am torn apart and living my worst nightmare. A piece of me is gone,” he began.
Surgeon
The deceased model’s name appeared in headlines worldwide. Her surgeon and anesthesiologist’s names have not and are currently unknown.
No medical error
Andrade’s manager told Brazilian news outlet Metropoles that there was “no medical error,” involved in her passing.
“The team was wonderful. There was no medical error, it was a fatality. She had done the pre-operative exams, nothing was wrong.”
Dr. Eduardo Teixeira of the Brazilian College of Plastic Surgery described the surgical procedure as being “like any other.” (Teixeira did not perform her surgery.)
“There is no risk-free surgery, nor any medical procedure that does not involve some type of risk, especially when it is a surgical procedure,” he said.
Last year, liposuction was the most popular cosmetic surgery in the United States as well as abroad, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The procedure was performed more than 2.3 million times that year.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Luana Andrade’s loved ones and family.