The head of Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital and its leading heart specialist will resign over a malpractice case in which a 12-year-old girl died after undergoing heart surgery last year, it was announced Friday.

Naoaki Hayashi, head of the prestigious hospital, and Hiroshi Kasanuki, head of the hospital's heart institute, will resign Sept. 1 to take responsibility for the malpractice and subsequent falsification of Akika Hirayanagi's medical records, the hospital said.

It made the announcement at a news conference attended by Hiromitsu Yoshioka, chairman of the university, and other hospital officials.

The hospital also took disciplinary action against five staff members involved in the surgery, the officials said.

The hospital dismissed surgeon Kazuhiro Seo and urged surgeon Kazuki Sato to resign. It suspended or cut the pay of two nurses and an operator of a medical device.

Seo, 46, head of the 14-member surgical team, has been charged with destroying evidence related to the death.

Sato, 38, who incorrectly operated a heart-lung machine during the surgery on March 2, 2001, was indicted for professional negligence resulting in death.

The hospital decided Thursday to rescind professor emeritus status from Yasuharu Imai, Seo's former supervisor, and Tetsuo Ishii, a former head of the hospital.

The hospital's external investigation committee said Thursday in an interim report that Imai did not inform the hospital of the falsification of Hirayanagi's records even though he learned of it immediately after the incident.

Five other high-ranking hospital officials, including Yoshioka, will voluntarily return part of their salaries.

At the news conference, Yoshioka said, "I apologize to Akika and her family . . . and for undermining public trust in medical services."

The external investigative committee said the hospital tried systematically to cover up the malpractice.

Hirayanagi, a sixth-grader from Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, was diagnosed with a hole in her heart shortly after birth. She was hospitalized in late February 2001 to undergo corrective surgery. The defect was not fatal.

She died of brain damage when the heart-lung machine stopped functioning due to Sato's mistake, the report said.

The incident came to light in December, but only after the girl's parents received a letter from a whistle-blower.

The reputation of the hospital, internationally known as a top heart center, has been seriously damaged by the scandal.

Last month, the health ministry stripped the hospital of its designation as an advanced treatment center. The hospital is the first to be punished in this fashion since the designation system was introduced in 1993.

The hospital decided last week to refrain from conducting heart transplants, leaving no medical facility capable of conducting the operation in eastern Japan.

Apart from Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital, there are only two medical institutions in Japan authorized to conduct heart transplants under the Organ Transplant Law. Both are in Osaka Prefecture.