The media learned the details of the sudden death of choreographer-repetiteur of the Mariinsky Theater Sergei Vikharev, who died on June 2. According to Fontanka.ru, the man died while receiving dental services.

As it became known, a 55-year-old Honored Artist of Russia approached the dentist about removing teeth and installing implants. A team of three specialists operated on him. During general anesthesia, the artist stopped breathing and his heart stopped. After half an hour of resuscitation efforts, death was pronounced.

The Investigative Committee of Russia has already begun an investigation. A number of examinations have been appointed. So far, law enforcement officials have refrained from commenting on the incident. Meanwhile, experts argue that the tragic incident could not have occurred due to the negligence of doctors or for some other reasons related to the human factor.

The chief dentist of the Russian Ministry of Health, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Yanushevich said that there is a risk of complications during general anesthesia during any operations.

I think that the mortality rate is no more than a thousand. Do the math for yourself: on average, there are about 15 million visits to the dentist per year. Last year there were two deaths in the dental chair. In any medicine there is a risk of complications that arise when a person is placed under deep anesthesia. But the necessity of using anesthesia for dental procedures today is very doubtful. I don't recommend using it, especially in adults, because they have a much higher risk of complications from anesthesia,” Januszewicz said.

Experts say that currently there are enough local anesthetics to relieve the patient’s fears and pain during dental procedures. Therefore, general anesthesia is used extremely rarely in dentistry. Why the dentists decided to use it during the operation with Sergei Vikharev is now being investigated by investigators and experts. The Livshits Clinic uses the popular sleeping pill propofol.

The clinic where the artist died is popular with local residents. Sergey Vikharev was their regular client. They said that Vikharev was given an injection by a visiting doctor. The Dr. Livshits Clinic does not name the company that sent the anesthesiologist to Vikharev. But the name of the doctor has already appeared in the press - according to preliminary information, we are talking about 55-year-old Andrei G. The media reported that after the tragic incident the anesthesiologist did not wait for the police - he left the deceased patient in the dental chair and left. Law enforcement officers are trying to contact him.

• Sergei Vikharev graduated from the Leningrad Academic Choreographic School. A. Ya. Vaganova in 1980 in the class of V. Semenov and was accepted into the troupe of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. S. M. Kirov. He performed the first parts in several famous productions. At the Mariinsky Theater, Vikharev performed reconstructions of the ballets “The Sleeping Beauty”, “La Bayadère”, “The Awakening of Flora” and others. Honored Artist of Russia and laureate of the Golden Mask theater award.
• In June 2015, 64-year-old Nadezhda Mikhaleva, a German language teacher who received anesthesia before tooth extraction, also died right in the dentist’s chair at one of the Moscow clinics. After injection with an anesthetic drug, the woman experienced anaphylactic shock.

Choreographer Sergei Vikharev died in one of the private dental clinics due to the negligence of doctors.

The tragedy occurred in the St. Petersburg private clinic “Doctor Livshits”, where the famous artist applied for implantation. According to media reports, before installing dental implants, it was necessary to remove several dilapidated teeth. It is also known that Sergei Vikharev, like many of us, was afraid of dental treatment. Apparently, due to the extensive intervention and the patient’s dental phobia, the clinic decided to carry out the entire procedure under “general” anesthesia. In total, three specialists took part in the operation: a dental surgeon, his assistant and an anesthesiologist. The latter administered propofol to the patient, a reaction to which presumably resulted in death. It is reported that some time after the administration of the drug, Sergei Vikharev stopped breathing and his pulse disappeared. Before the ambulance arrived, the clinic staff tried to resuscitate the artist on their own, but this did not produce any results: the doctors who arrived at the scene confirmed the death of the famous choreographer.

According to information published by some media outlets, the anesthesiologist’s name is Andrey Goltyakov: he used to work in a maternity hospital and at one time changed his last name. Journalists also write that this specialist has a number of negative reviews from former patients, but this information has not yet been confirmed. In addition, on the website of the Doctor Livshits clinic there is no information about the availability of a license to conduct general anesthesia. Perhaps this is why dentistry was forced to turn to outside specialists for this service. This situation was commented on for Startsmile by Antonina Getsman, chief physician at Dental Fantasy Dentistry, where general anesthesia and sedation have been successfully used for 12 years:

“Treatment under general anesthesia is carried out only in clinics licensed for this type of medical intervention. The safety of treatment under anesthesia is ensured by orders 909n and 919n. These documents describe in detail the necessary equipment and requirements for medical personnel to provide quality medical care. If you even briefly read the contents of these documents, you will see that the requirements for dental treatment of patients under anesthesia are as serious as the requirements for non-dental operations “during sleep.”

It is important that the clinic employs experienced specialists. The safety of treatment in this case is ensured by an anesthesiologist-resuscitator and nurse anesthetist. Today, dentists and their assistants are constantly trained in emergency care (Basic life support (BLS) / advanced life support (ALS)). This also has a positive effect on the quality of treatment and reduces the medical risks that are always present with any type of treatment. Today, our attention is drawn to the fact that more and more clinics provide treatment under general anesthesia. This is due to the fact that anesthetic technologies are becoming increasingly safe and, as a result, widespread in dental practice throughout the world.”

This is not the first case of death after the use of propofol. Despite the fact that it is considered a very effective anesthetic, propofol has a strong effect on the body and can also cause allergic reactions, so its use requires a lot of experience and extreme caution from the doctor. In one American state, propofol is even included in the injections used for the death penalty. It was from an overdose of this drug that the legendary singer Michael Jackson, as well as actress Joan Rivers, died. Now another celebrity has been added to this list. Sergei Vikharev graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School, now the Academy of Russian Ballet. A. Ya. Vaganova, and in 1986 became a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater. During his time as a choreographer, Sergei Vikharev became the author of a number of outstanding productions that received wide recognition in Russia and abroad.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is conducting a pre-investigation investigation into the death of Mariinsky Theater choreographer Sergei Vikharev, who died in St. Petersburg on June 2 during dental surgery. This was reported by the press service of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for the Northern capital.

According to the investigation, the 55-year-old man died before the ambulance arrived. The circumstances and causes of death will be determined by a forensic medical examination. Based on the results of the pre-investigation check, a procedural decision will be made, the Investigative Committee reported.

As it became known, the Honored Artist of Russia died during an operation under general anesthesia at the private dental clinic "Doctor Livshits" on Torzhkovskaya Street. At the Mariinsky Theater he was one of the leading soloists, and for the last 10 years he worked as a teacher and tutor.

According to Fontanka, on the morning of Friday, June 2, Vikharev went to the Doctor Livshits clinic to remove teeth from the upper jaw and install implants. In the clinic, which is owned by its founder, general director and chief physician Tatyana Livshits, removal costs from 4,000 rubles, implantation - from 30 thousand. The choreographer wanted to replace several teeth.

Vikharev was served by a team of doctors: the only full-time surgeon Vitaly Kalinin, senior administrator Nana Gelashvili (acting as an assistant) and guest anesthesiologist 55-year-old Andrei Goltyakov. According to Fontanka, he is on the wanted list. Known to the registration authorities of St. Petersburg for his change of surname.

According to the publication, Goltyakov gave the artist an intravenous injection of the drug propofol, a sleeping pill intended for intravenous administration. It is used to maintain anesthesia, as a sedative during artificial ventilation, and for procedural sedation.

Propofol is approved for use in more than 50 countries. Side effects of its use are a decrease in blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances, and short-term respiratory arrest. There are known cases of death from drug overdose. Thus, singer Michael Jackson died in 2009 from cardiac arrest after an overdose of propofol. In the US state of Missouri, propofol is used by injection to carry out death sentences.

During Vikharev’s surgical intervention, doctors recorded cessation of breathing and cardiac activity, and absence of pulse. For half an hour before the ambulance arrived, clinic staff carried out resuscitation measures, including chest compressions. Ambulance doctors recorded death from unknown causes, but suggested thromboembolism - blockage of the pulmonary artery.

LLC "Clinic of Doctor Livshits" was registered in 2008. Tatyana Livshits is a member of the Russian Dental Society, previously listed as a co-owner of Zubastiki Curient LLC on the Petrograd side. The Doctor Livshits clinic employs 15 people.

Biography of Sergei Vikharev

Sergey Vikharev is a graduate of the Leningrad Choreographic School named after Agrippina Vaganova (class of People's Artist of the USSR Vladlen Semenov), laureate of international competitions in Varna and Moscow. As TASS notes, in a professional environment he was valued as a versatile classical dancer with outstanding artistry.

Born in February 1962. He graduated from the Leningrad Vaganova Choreographic School in 1980 and in the same year was accepted into the troupe of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after Kirov (Mariinsky Theatre).

Performed leading roles in the ballets "Sleeping Beauty", "Giselle", "Romeo and Juliet". He danced in performances by Alla Sigalova's Independent Troupe, as well as in ballets by Boris Eifman, Alexander Polubentsev, and Vladimir Karelin. In 1999-2006 he was the chief choreographer of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater. Since 2007, Vikharev has worked as a choreographer and tutor at the Mariinsky Theater.

In 1999, Vikharev staged the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Mariinsky Theater, reconstructing from recordings the 1894 performance staged by Marius Petipa, and then his “La Bayadère” staged in 1900. At the Bolshoi Theater he reconstructed the Mariinsky Theater's 1894 performance of Coppelia, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Enrico Cecchetti (2009). At La Scala Theater in Milan he staged Marius Petipa's ballet Raymonda (2011).

Among Vikharev's achievements is the reconstruction of the play "Carnival", staged by Mikhail Fokin in 1910. The Golden Mask 2008 award was awarded to his reconstruction of the ballet The Awakening of Flora by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov.

Farewell to Sergei Vikharev will take place on the morning of Thursday, June 8, in the foyer of the dress circle of the Mariinsky Theater. The artist will be buried at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Another case of death after a painkiller injection is being checked by investigators from the Arkhangelsk region. A 37-year-old resident of the village of Ilyinsko-Podomskoye fell into a coma after a doctor’s injection and then died, presumably due to a severe allergic reaction to the drug.

Such situations, alas, are not uncommon. In Omsk in April, after an injection of lidocaine, a ten-year-old girl fell into a coma and then died. The investigation stated that hospital doctors did not check the risk of an allergic reaction to the drug. On June 29 in Krasnoyarsk, the president of the Siberian Hospitality Association, Marina Bezfamilnaya, suddenly died from a pain-relieving injection during a massage. The business lady was 57 years old. In August, a resident of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug died after a visit to the dentist. On September 7, a 29-year-old girl died in a private clinic in Rostov after an injection in her knee. In June, choreographer of the Mariinsky Theater Sergei Vikharev died after an injection in the dentist's chair. Commenting on this case, the chief dentist of the Russian Ministry of Health, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Yanushevich, on the Rossiya 24 TV channel, stated that the most common cause of death is problems with the cardiovascular system.

“The overall mortality rate due to anesthesia can be quite high, this is due to the fact that patients must be carefully examined for the presence of blood clots and the condition of the cardiovascular system. Before giving anesthesia, it is necessary to conduct a thorough medical examination,” the doctor concluded.

Other doctors also tell horror stories about the possible “side effects” of anesthesia. Complications after injections can generally be very diverse. In August, it was reported that after several deaths, Roszdravnadzor recalled a batch of lidocaine.

Of course, it is impossible to intimidate people, says the chief specialist in anesthesiology and resuscitation of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, head of the department of anesthesiology and resuscitation of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Professor Igor Molchanov. But apparently it will have to.

- Igor Vladimirovich, what are all these terrible incidents? Burnt batches of lidocaine? Paralysis of the heart muscle?

In principle, lidocaine is a rather outdated drug, but it is very good in cardiology, for rhythm disturbances, and for certain conditions. It has also been used as a local anesthetic for many years. But the population's allergy profile has changed...

- Suddenly? Those. there was no allergy, and suddenly it came from somewhere?

No, there were definitely allergies. Remember novocaine, which flowed like a river at all times, and there were many complications. When lidocaine appeared, we switched to it. This is a progressive development due to the fact that each case of complication began to be voiced, something that previously we may have partially hidden so as not to frighten the population. But now these are isolated cases. When you go to the surgeon, are you sure that everything will be fine?

- Many people will blow their minds to surgeons to do allergy tests. They are afraid of Quincke's edema!

That's the whole point. Every intervention – no matter what it is – has risks. Both we and the patients are at risk. More often than not, everything goes perfectly smoothly, but not always.

- What about the tests? Let them inject 0.1 ml first and see if there is a reaction. True, they are reluctant to do this.

But everything is wrong. Nowadays, sensitivity tests have practically been abandoned, since this test can serve as a starting mechanism for allergies. This very microdose, which was administered intradermally, can sensitize - the body will be more sensitive to this drug than before the injection. That's why they don't do tests today. This is truly killer stuff. This cannot be done. But I won’t tell you all about immunology and allergology, it’s difficult.

- How to live? More precisely, to survive?

You need to live cheerfully and hope that everything will be fine.

It doesn't work. One grandfather in Moscow recently went to the dentist and died there. And there are many such cases, as we see from the media.

Look, dentists have an absolutely magnificent range of drugs, ultracaine and so on, dental specialists can list all their advantages and disadvantages. A list of vital drugs has just been approved, including levobupivacaine. Dentists have known it for a long time, but now it has been included in the list of vital drugs so that our doctors and patients have a wider range of drugs. It can be used not only in dentistry. So we are working in this direction, and the Ministry of Health is working quite actively. It is impossible to cancel all widely used drugs at once, but we are introducing new ones.

- But this levobupivacaine does not cause allergies?

This doesn't happen. Anything foreign that is introduced into the body can cause allergies. But less and less!

- And how to finally reduce the risks when going to the doctor?

Let's not intimidate everyone!

- Why intimidate them, people go to the dentist and don’t come out.

There is no need to dramatize the situation. You can find anything you want on Google, but now recalculate it to the total number of hits. Unfortunately, the doctor is obliged to take a risk position, but the risk here is minimal. But you have collected specific cases and do not want to consider them on a global scale.

I don’t want to, because you and I could be next, God forbid, of course. Or don’t go to the doctors at all? Life is more valuable.

You reason like this as long as it concerns only the tooth. If you want to live, you will go. Can you imagine the volume and risk of major heart surgery, for example?

There is a large team working there, including anesthesiologists, it’s not scary at all. But at the dentist or in the clinic - it’s scary.

A person should always be alert. I repeat, there is no intervention without risks. You can anoint it with iodine and get a problem. Before the injection, my beloved mother-in-law treated her skin with a napkin containing alcohol from a pharmacy package. And right there there was a reaction! This never happened. Suddenly it appeared. So what now, hang yourself? Shouldn't I give her injections? But there should be caution, yes. Therefore, they are now reviewing and re-checking the presence of anti-shock and anti-allergic settings in each treatment room, at the dentist, surgeon, and so on. Because the probability is high. Therefore, now we are talking about hanging defibrillators in public places - there is a risk! And the Ministry of Health is doing this.

- But are there any safe drugs?

Eat! Water.

Interviewed by Yulia Kundukhova

Choreographer of the Mariinsky Theater Sergei Vikharev died in the dental chair. He was given intravenous anesthesia, but during the operation the artist’s heart stopped. After half an hour of resuscitation measures, death was pronounced, Fontanka reports.

ON THE TOPIC

The Investigative Committee of Russia has already begun an investigation, Flashnord reports. A number of examinations have been appointed. Experts say that the tragic incident did not occur due to the negligence of doctors or other reasons related to the human factor. According to statistics, mortality during dental surgery does not exceed 0.001%.

“I think that the mortality rate is no more than thousandths. Do the math for yourself: on average, about 15 million visits to a dentist per year. Last year, two deaths were recorded in the dental chair,” says the chief dentist of the Russian Ministry of Health, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Yanushevich.

The risk of complications when the patient is under general anesthesia exists during any operation, he assured. And not only in dentistry.

Mariinsky Theater artist Vikharev died in the dentist's chair: The Investigative Committee is checking the private clinic of Dr. Livshits in St. Petersburg in...

— Elena Mitrofanova (@MozaikaVremeni) June 7, 2017

“In any medicine there is a risk of complications that arise when a person is immersed in deep anesthesia. But the need for using anesthesia today for dental procedures is very doubtful. I do not recommend using it, especially for adults. Because they have a much higher risk of complications from anesthesia ", said the chief dentist of the Ministry of Health in an interview with RT.

The death of the choreographer did not go unnoticed by the Russians. Internet users express their condolences to loved ones on social networks. Fans of the artist’s talent do not want to believe that he is no more.

The choreographer of the Mariinsky Theater Vikharev, it turns out, died in the dentist’s chair after anesthesia. Creepy

— Evgeny Abramkin (@eugene_abramkin)