UK woman killed by rare IVF risk, Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome
By BBC News,
BBC News
| 04. 13. 2005
Temilola Akinbolagbe, 33, from Plumstead, south London, collapsed at a bus stop after developing Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS).
The potentially fatal form of the condition affects about one per cent of women undergoing IVF, although a less severe form is more common.
Experts believe this was the first such death from OHSS in the UK.
Mild and moderate forms of OHSS have been reported to affect up to 20% of women undergoing ovarian induction, which mimics the production of normal hormones.
It is believed there have been three other deaths from the condition in the last 30 years.
Mrs Akinbolagbe, from Plumstead, south London, started to feel ill after receiving fertility treatment.
She was taken to hospital immediately, but suffered a massive heart attack.
Mrs Akinbolagbe's life support machine was turned off five days later.
Her husband, Samuel Ifaturoti, said his wife had been "very positive" about the fertility treatment.
'Not a particular risk'
Gynaecologist John Parsons said staff at Kings College Hospital, where she had received her fertility treatment, were all shocked by Mrs Akinbolagbe's death.
He said: "We...
Related Articles
By Ian Sample, The Guardian | 03.08.2024
Scientists are a step closer to making IVF eggs from patients’ skin cells after adapting the procedure that created Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, more than two decades ago.
The work raises the prospect of older women being...
By Gerry Smith, Bloomberg | 03.12.2024
When Celenise Mahmood first learned about two new gene therapies that could cure sickle cell disease, she felt a wave of relief.
Her 9-year-old son, Navid, has the inherited blood disorder. By age 5, he’d had over 30 life-saving blood...
By Liz Baker, Debbie Elliott, and Susanna Capelouto, NPR | 03.06.2024
The Alabama State Legislature passed a bill Wednesday night granting civil and criminal immunity for in vitro fertilization service providers and receivers.
Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill into law within an hour of it passing the Alabama...
By Daniel Gilbert, The Washington Post | 03.07.2024
Vitaly Kushnir’s fertility clinic offers to screen an embryo to predict a baby’s sex, but the service can lead to ethically murky territory, like when a couple wanted it so their first child could be a boy.
But the couple...