Surgery cited as possible cause in West death -- chicagotribune.com

The Los Angeles County coroner's office was scheduled to conduct an autopsy Wednesday on Donda West, mother and manager of hip-hop star Kanye West, amid reports that she died of complications from cosmetic surgery.

A statement issued by the family late Monday offered no details about how West died, but the coroner's office cited a recent surgical procedure as a possible cause. A California surgeon said through a spokeswoman that he had declined to perform cosmetic surgery on West months ago because she had a pre-existing condition.

West, 58, who stopped breathing at her home in Los Angeles on Saturday, was brought to the Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center in Marina del Rey by paramedics, hospital spokeswoman Cyndee Woelfle told the Tribune. Woelfle said it was her understanding that West had had some cosmetic surgery, and that her "problems were a result of the surgery but it was not done at this hospital."On Monday, Patricia Green, a publicist for Donda West, told news media she understood West had undergone cosmetic surgery; later, Green backed away from that statement.

A spokeswoman for Dr. Andre Aboolian, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, told The Associated Press that Donda West had approached him months ago about having plastic surgery but he declined to perform it because of a pre-existing condition. He said he never heard back from her. Aboolian told West that she needed to get a medical clearance before he would agree to do the surgery, said his publicist, Jo-Ann Geffen.

Aboolian was concerned about a condition West had that could have caused a heart attack during surgery, Geffen said.

Earlier this year, West released "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar," a memoir she penned with Karen Hunter . West was former chairwoman of the English Department at Chicago State University.The family statement read: "Kanye West, his family and friends would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support and kind words that have come in from across the country since the death of his mother, Dr. Donda West." The family asked that donations be made to the Loop Dreams Teacher Training Institute, founded by Kanye and Donda West. Donations can be made at http://www.KanyeWestFoundation.org or at Kanye West Foundation, 8560 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Makes me nervous about ever getting a TT. I am sure the death was from other than the actually TT though.

She had been warned by another plastic sergeon that she had a Heart problem and that it was not safe to have surgery. He did not do the surgery. She went to a second plastic sergeon who did not get medical clearance from a doctor about her heart. She just went for it. Maybe doctors know something after all.

John