A 12-year-old girl died three days after undergoing heart surgery at a Tokyo hospital in March due to brain damage caused when an artificial heart-lung machine malfunctioned during the operation, sources close to the case said Saturday.
Akika Hirayanagi, the daughter of dentist Toshiaki Hirayanagi, from Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture, slipped into a coma after cardiopulmonary pumps stopped functioning for between 15 and 20 minutes during an operation on March 2 at the Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital in the capital's Shinjuku Ward.
The girl's parents plan to file a criminal complaint against surgeons on suspicion of negligence resulting in death, probably early in the New Year.