Brain scan mix-up may have led doctor to cut open wrong side of patient’s skull, Hong Kong health minister says
Woman who had wrong side of skull cut open remained in hospital on Saturday in a stable condition
A Hong Kong brain surgeon who operated on the wrong side of a patient’s skull may have made a crucial error well before surgery even began, according to the city’s health minister.
Secretary for the Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man described an incident at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in which the left side of a 54-year-old woman’s skull was cut open instead of the right, as “a serious mishap”.
He stressed that doctors had followed procedure prior to the surgery, but it was possible the doctor involved wrongly identified the correct side of the skull from the brain scan images.
“On the other hand, information showed it was possible the source of the mistake was when the doctor was looking at the scan images... at that point, [the wrong side] of the skull had been identified,” Ko said.
The patient was transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Tuesday night where a brain scan found she was suffering from an aneurysm, causing an increase in intracranial pressure. It was a life-threatening situation.