Cheerleader Dies After Plastic Surgery

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- A West Boca Raton, Fla., High School senior died after complications during a breast augmentation surgery after having a bad reaction to anesthesia medication given to her during the surgery.

The family's attorney, Roberto Stanziale, told TV station WPBF that Stephanie Kuleba, 18, began having problems about one hour into the operation, which he said was meant to fix a breast deformity.

"She went in for the surgery at 8:05 in the morning, by 9:45, an hour and 40 minutes later, the paramedics had been called and she had been rushed to Delray Medical Center where, basically, 24 hours later, she died," Stanziale said.

Stanziale said that the medical examiner's office told the family that Kuleba died from malignant hyperthermia, a condition often triggered by certain anesthetics that can increase the individual's body temperature to dangerous levels, WPBF reported.

Usually an inherited disorder, malignant hyperthermia is a metabolic disorder of muscle that often goes unnoticed in everyday life, but can turn deadly if an individual suffering from the disorder is given a triggering anesthetic, according to the Malignant Hyperthermia Associations of the United States' Web site.

Most cases of malignant hyperthermia occur in children and adults younger than 30 and have been estimated to occur once in every 15,000 surgeries in children and less often in adults, according to the Web site of InteliHealth Inc., a subsidiary of health care benefits company Aetna Inc.

Friends said that Kuleba, an honor student and co-captain of her school's cheerleading squad, was expecting to attend the University of Florida next fall to begin studying to become a doctor.

"She was very outgoing. A lot of people know her. She's like, very interesting and fun-to-talk-to kind of girl," classmate Magdala Compere told WPBF. "It's still kind of shocking to, like, know that happened to a classmate."

About 400 friends and family members attended a candlelight vigil for the teen in front of the West Boca High School's student parking lot Sunday night.

A wake for friends and family will be held Tuesday at the Babione Funeral Home located at 10060 Calle Comercio, Boca Raton, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Kuleba's funeral will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Jude's Catholic Church located at 21689 Toledo Road in Boca Raton.