5-month-old baby girl in China dies after heart surgery that surgeon said had 99.5% success rate

The chief surgeon of a five-month-old baby girl's heart surgery in China was removed from his post and suspended after Chinese authorities launched an investigation into the girl's death on Nov. 14, 2025 following the operation.

citynewsservice.cn reported that the girl, known as "Xu Luoxi" or "Little Luoxi", underwent cardiac surgery at the Women and Children's Hospital of Ningbo University, Zhejiang Province, China.

The surgery was meant to repair an atrial septal defect, Sixth Tone reported, adding that the operation was expected to last under three hours.

According to Luoxi's mother, Deng Rongrong, the surgeon, Chen, told the family that the baby's operation carried a success rate of 99.5 per cent.

Investigation

Following Luoxi's death, a task force was sent to the hospital for investigations.

Ningbo authorities then established an investigation team on Nov. 17 and conducted a comprehensive inquiry, citynewsservice.cn reported, adding that preliminary findings were released on Dec. 14.

In addition, citynewsservice.cn reported that Ningbo authorities commissioned the Hubei Chongxin Judicial Expertise Centre to conduct an autopsy at the family's request, noting that the autopsy report was delivered to the family on Dec. 19.

In response to the family's concerns over the surgical treatment, Ningbo authorities also said a medical accident appraisal was initiated to determine whether medical malpractice occurred.

Routine surgery to death

This comes after the operation, which lasted about seven hours, over two times longer than the expected duration.

Deng said her family was informed at 4 pm on Nov. 14 that the operation "had not gone smoothly and that the child's chance of survival was only about 50 per cent".

Chen then told the family around 4:30 pm on Nov. 14 that the surgery had been successful and that Luoxi's "vital signs were stable", adding that the baby would be transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit for monitoring.

Deng later said the family was never informed that a second surgery had been performed during the procedure.

Luoxi was later declared clinically dead around 10 pm on Nov. 14.

In addition, the autopsy report showed that Luoxi did not have a coronary sinus atrial septal defect, news.sina.cn reported, adding that this made her family question the validity of the surgery.

Penalties

Subsequent investigations then found procedural failures and management lapses at the hospital where the operation was performed, according to thepaper.cn.

The findings, published on Dec. 14 by the Health Commission of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, found that the surgical team committed errors during the surgery, failed in risk management, did not inform the family of emergencies, and provided inadequate postoperative monitoring.

As a result, the hospital removed the chief surgeon from his post and suspended him, along with the anesthesiologist and attending physician of the pediatric intensive care unit, according to the report.

The hospital's vice president was also fired, while its president and party secretary received a "demerit" for serious violations and a warning, respectively.

In addition, a lawsuit Luoxi's family filed against the hospital for medical malpractice was also accepted by a court in Ningbo City, according to The Global Times.

Expert opinion

In light of Luoxi's death, experts have weighed in.

Sixth Tone reported that a chief pediatric cardiac surgeon at a Beijing hospital said atrial septal defects are often accompanied by other cardiac abnormalities that can be missed or misdiagnosed, increasing surgical risk.

The surgeon noted that infants' conditions can change rapidly during surgery and, as such, delaying surgery until a child is older and heavier can significantly improve safety and stressed that surgical decisions should balance risk with the patient's overall benefit.

Top photos via Sixth Tone and China News