[ad_1]
It is not yet clear where the error occurred: at the Keppler University Clinic in Linz or at a pathological institute in Erlangen. However, what is certain is that a healthy man’s prostate was accidentally removed as a result.
Last November, tissue samples were taken from two men suspected of having prostate cancer and sent to a specialized institute in Erlangen for analysis. There it was discovered that one of the patients actually suffers from prostate cancer, while the other was given the go-ahead. At the Keppler University Clinic, one of the two patients had his prostate surgically removed on January 19. “After the operation, as is customary in these cases, the removed tissue parts were again pathologically examined,” says Primar Frens-Steffen Krause. “A discrepancy with the original biopsy result arose, indicating a sample exchange.”
Doctors discovered that there had been a second tissue sample and repeated the examination procedure. Last week, the Erlangen Institute of Pathology finally determined that there must have been a mix-up. So far, the Linz hospital documentation has not revealed any source of error. “Therefore, it cannot be determined with final certainty whether the exchange could have taken place at the Kepler University Clinic or at the University of Erlangen,” the clinic announced today. The hospital management submitted a statement of the facts to the Linz prosecutor in order to fully clarify the case.
“We regret this incident and of course we have already informed the two affected patients about the exchange in personal conversations,” says Primary Karl-Heinz Stadlbauer, medical director of Kepler University Hospital. “For that patient with the actual tumor diagnosis, treatment was resumed.” For the other man, the relief of not having cancer should initially outweigh the problem.
