After some time, staff were unable to revive Bryan and he was pronounced dead. Shaknovsky removed an organ he called Bryan’s spleen and placed it on a table. Staff reportedly looked at the easily identifiable liver in shock. One reported feeling an upset stomach.
Misidentified organs
The liver that Shaknovsky removed weighed more than 2,100 grams and measured approximately 23 by 19 by 11 centimeters. An enlarged spleen weighs a maximum of 500 grams and is only up to 20 cm long, the health department said. Additionally, livers and spleens are anatomically distinct and have different colors and consistencies. The liver is on the right side of the abdomen, while the spleen is on the left side, the side Bryan had said was painful.
Shaknovsky insisted that the liver be labeled a spleen and returned to the operating room three times that night to try to convince the staff that it was a spleen. a pathology report He described the so-called spleen as “a very identifiable liver of 2,106 g.”
An autopsy revealed that Bryan’s spleen was intact, his liver was missing, and his inferior vena cava was severed. The inferior vena cava is the largest vein in the body and carries deoxygenated blood from the lower part of the body to the heart through the liver.
While investigating the gruesome circumstances of Bryan’s death, investigators also noted that this was not the first time Shaknovsky had removed the wrong organ. In 2023, he mistakenly removed a portion of a patient’s pancreas when he intended to remove the adrenal gland. He later reported that the adrenal gland had “migrated.”
The lawsuit filed by Bryan’s widow is still pending. She told NBC News: “He would want his death to prevent anyone else from being hurt, which is what I think the criminal charges being filed will do. If we had to suffer this and he had to die, then at least no one else will be hurt by this man now.”
