Maradona had pulmonary oedema and heart muscle disease before death, court hears
Two coroners who performed Maradona's autopsy testified that the football great endured up to 12 hours of agony leading up to his death, as fluids built up in his abdomen and lungs.
BUENOS AIRES - The results of the autopsy of Argentina football icon Diego Maradona were made public for the first time on Thursday amid the trial of seven doctors and nurses who treated him before his death in 2020, German Press Agency (dpa) reported).
Two coroners who performed Maradona's autopsy testified that the football great endured up to 12 hours of agony leading up to his death, as fluids built up in his abdomen and lungs.
The cause of death was determined to be acute pulmonary oedema with heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart condition, local media reporting on the trial said.
Maradona's death was neither sudden nor unexpected, newspaper La Nación quoted forensic expert Carlos Mauricio Cassinelli as testifying in court. His heart weighed twice as much as a normal one.
A total of 4.5 litres of water had accumulated in Maradona's various organs. The water retention in the organs had begun several days earlier. He was not a patient who should have been treated at home, Cassinelli added.
More than four years after Maradona's death, the trial of seven doctors and nurses who treated him got under way on Tuesday.
The public prosecutor's office has charged Maradona's personal physician, Leopoldo Luque, and his psychiatrist, Agustina Cosachov, with manslaughter, along with a psychologist, a further doctor, the medical coordinator of the health insurance company and two nurses.
All the defendants deny the charges. If convicted, they face prison sentences of up to 25 years.
The start of the trial has been postponed twice because a number of legal issues were still outstanding. The proceedings are now expected to last at least until mid-July, with a total of 192 witnesses summoned.
The trial against another nurse has been separated from the main proceedings. That defendant will have to answer to a jury in the second half of the year.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60 in a private residential complex north of Buenos Aires. He had undergone brain surgery a few weeks earlier. Investigators say serious mistakes were made in the home care of the 1986 World Cup winner, whose health was severely compromised. - BERNAMA-dpa
Download Sinar Daily application.Click Here!
