A 78-year-old Israeli tragically died on Wednesday morning after a Phillips X-ray system crashed during a cardiac catheterization procedure in Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
The patient died following a complication in the procedure after the system, which allows for a clear view of the patient's blood vessels, mysteriously shut down during the procedure.
Rabin Medical Center said that the cause of the system's crash is unknown, but it was most likely not a power failure.
This is the first such incident that has occurred in the Israeli hospital, which said in a statement that the X-ray system passed its routine maintenance test one week prior and that some 4,000 heart cath producers are conducted every year using the system.
The Rabin Medical Center medical staff who treated the patient is "upset and shocked by the difficult and rare event," the hospital further said. "[They are] attempting to comprehend what happened and recover from it."
Health Ministry committee to examine incident
In accordance with the Health Ministry, an inspection committee has been established to examine the incident along with representatives of the system's manufacturers in Israel.
The ministry also ordered to halt all catheterization procedures at the Petah Tikva medical center for several hours after the incident occurred. Senior Beilinson officials later said that the hospital's cardiology department Is "operating as usual."