Maradona's doctors missed renal red flag, court hears

Late Argentine football legend Diego Maradona's failing kidneys should have been a red flag for his doctors, a specialist told the trial over the player's death on Tuesday.

Maradona, who died aged 60 while convalescing after surgery for a brain clot, suffered from "chronic kidney disease," nephrologist Hernan Trimarchi told a court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires that is trying Maradona's medical team for criminal negligence.

The 1986 World Cup star died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – at a rented home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre on November 25, 2020.

Seven healthcare professionals, including Maradona's personal physician, psychiatrist and nursing staff, are accused of providing woefully inadequate care.

The trial is also examining whether their decision to allow him to convalesce in a private home instead of a medical facility endangered his life.

He said the player's kidneys were heavy and contained lesions linked to a history of obesity, cocaine use, and hypertension.

"At a minimum," he said, the patient should have undergone "daily medical check-ups, daily nursing care, blood tests and monitoring of his vital signs."

He added that there was no record of any blood test being performed during his two-week convalescence.

He added that Maradona's ballooning size and blood pressure should also have been cause for concern.

In April, the court was shown images of the star on his death bed, his stomach grotesquely distended by edema.

An autopsy showed he was in agony for several hours before his death.

Trimarchi is the third specialist to tell the court that Maradona's doctors missed crucial warning signs.

The accused, who risk up to 25 years imprisonment if convicted, deny responsibility for the icon's death.

The trial is expected to last until at least September.

– TIMES/AFP