A healthy 23-year-old woman has died in India while her eggs were being extracted for use in IVF. An autopsy revealed that the death was due to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a rare complication of egg donation. .

The unidentified woman from Delhi already had a four-year-old daughter and appeared to be completely healthy. However, during the procedure her heart stopped and doctors were unable to resuscitate her.

The results of an autopsy were published in the journal Autopsy Case Reports earlier this year. Death was caused by “respiratory failure due to acute massive pulmonary edema, which developed due to the complication of OHSS,” the authors said.

According to the journal, “The primary risk factors for OHSS are young age, low body mass index, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and previous episodes of OHSS.” The World Health Organisation says that OHSS affects between 0.2% and 1% of all IVF patients. Severe OHSS is rare.

Doctors found that the woman’s ovaries had swelled to three times their normal size and that fluid had accumulated in her lungs.

“Recently, egg donation cases have been on the rise due to the high demand for IVF,” the authors write. “The prospective oocyte donors should be adequately counseled about the risks related to egg donation.”