The case of Giorgos Mazonakis’s death has taken on international dimensions, not only because of his great popularity as an artist but also because of the medical procedure during which he suffered a cardiac arrest and losthis life so prematurely and unjustly. The shocking news spread around the world, causing great upheaval in the global medical community regarding the safety of plasmapheresis procedures.
Dr. Allen P. Green, a clinical internist and Associate Medical Director at the Global Apheresis Clinic in Mill Valley, California, who has performed more than 500 plasma apheresis procedures, admits, in an extensive article on the subject published on his personal website, that since the day of the Greek singer’s death, many patients and doctors have been asking him whether the procedure is dangerous.
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Referring specifically to the case of the private clinic in Kolonaki, where Giorgos Mazonakis died, he believes there were very serious shortcomings: “What has been reported about this specific clinic in Kolonaki—provided it is confirmed in court—describes an environment lacking the three essential elements required for any extraction procedure: staff specifically trained in the procedure, functional emergency response equipment, and established criteria for halting the procedure.”
In order to address questions regarding the safety of these medical procedures, it deems it necessary to distinguish between the different methods used: “Almost all reports in English use the terms ‘plasmapheresis,’ ‘plasma exchange,’ and ‘blood purification’ interchangeably. These are not the same thing, and this distinction is important for interpreting safety data,” he clarifies.
Regarding the INUSpheresis system, which was used in the case of Giorgos Mazonakis, he explains that “it is a specialized form of double-filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP). The plasma is separated from the blood cells, passes through a secondary filter that retains the larger molecules, and is then returned to the patient. No replacement with another fluid takes place.”
In contrast, therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE), the procedure he uses, “works differently, as the plasma is removed and discarded, and replaced with a fresh albumin solution.”
He also emphasizes that “data specifically on INUSpheresis are scarce, as the published literature consists of only a small observational study from European centers.”
Risks and Necessary Safety Measures
Dr. Allen P. Green places particular emphasis on the expertise of the staff responsible for performing this medical procedure and on the necessary equipment required to handle emergencies.
“A clinic purchases the machine, a sales representative trains the staff over the course of a weekend, and plasma exchange is added to the services offered,” he points out, adding meaningfully that “the gap between owning the equipment and knowing how to use it is greater than the market currently reflects.” He also points out that “the term ‘longevity clinic’ does not constitute a certification of qualifications, nor, of course, does the mere possession of a blood-removal machine.”
In an attempt to explain what happened in the case of George Mazonakis, he offers two possible interpretations: The first is that the procedure was performed in a way that caused harm: “Use of the incorrect replacement fluid, failure to perform pre-treatment laboratory tests, inappropriate equipment, ignoring audible warning signals, or treating a patient who should not have undergone the procedure.
In fact, she places particular emphasis on the latter, stressing that sometimes the right decision is not to administer treatment, clearly illustrating Ioanna Gaka’s situation, who, despite the changes she observed in Giorgos Mazonakis, did not dissuade him: “A patient who comes in for a scheduled procedure and presents with new confusion, difficulty speaking, a new cough, unexplained fluid retention, or difficulty standing, is not a patient who should undergo treatment on that particular day. These findings require urgent evaluation. A defibrillation program that cannot cancel a scheduled session has a structural problem, not a clinical one.”
His second interpretation refers to a heart attack that would have occurred anyway: “Arrhythmias and myocardial infarctions occur both in offices and on gym treadmills. The fact that an event occurs during a procedure does not mean that it was caused by it. If a cardiac event occurs in a properly organized blood component collection unit, the team detects it within seconds, shuts down the circuit, begins resuscitation using equipment that was checked earlier that same day, and immediately alerts emergency services. What determines whether an episode will be survivable or fatal is, usually, the first few minutes. The environment in which the procedure takes place does not determine whether the incident will occur, but whether the patient will survive it. George Mazonakis, however, according to the autopsy results, did not have any heart problems.
Finally, regarding the main risks that may arise during a plasma removal procedure, he cites a decrease in ionized calcium, which affects cardiac conduction, a rapid drop in blood pressure, particularly in patients who are dehydrated, taking antihypertensives, or have heart disease, the continued operation of the machine after alarms have sounded without investigating the cause, the absence of pre-treatment screening, and the lack of certified personnel, medications and equipment for the immediate activation of emergency services.
Source: Proto Thema
