<<Print>>

A skilled Samba dancer who went into hospital for surgery on uterine fibroids woke up to find that her left arm had been amputated above the elbow. 

Alessandra dos Santos Silva, 35, a passista at the Academicos do Grande Rio school, was admitted to Hospital da Mulher Heloneida Studart in Rio de Janeiro in February after scans last August found the growths in her uterus. 

But complications from the surgery meant that she needed a total hysterectomy - and then doctors decided they couldn't save her arm, which had become necrotic. After the amputation, Ms Silva was released from hospital but an appointment a few days later raised serious concerns about her stitches. The dancer was forced to approach several hospitals before she was admitted. 

The series of failures is being investigated by the Rio de Janeiro Health Department and the Civil Police and an inquiry will be held into what happened at the Heloneida Studart Women's Hospital.