A cause of death for Lisa Marie Presley has officially been released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. According to their report Thursday, the 54-year-old singer and actor died due to a “sequelae of a small bowel obstruction.”
Small bowel obstruction is noted as a “common surgical emergency” by the National Library of Medicine, with more than 300,000 laparotomies being performed each year in the United States.
The obstruction shows a higher incidence rate in correlation with increasing age, previous abdominal surgeries, inflammatory bowel disease, or hernias. When unaddressed, it can lead to a deterioration in bowel tissue and, by extension, death.
Lisa Marie, the only daughter to the “King of Rock n’ Roll” Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, was hospitalized after suffering an apparent cardiac arrest on January 12. She would die hours later.
“Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement to CNN at the time. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.
The Examiner’s report also detailed that Presley had been “complaining of abdominal pain” that morning, later being “found unresponsive at home.”
During her hospitalization, she was found to “have a severely distended abdomen and diagnosed with severe metabolic acidosis.”
Though Presley previously had bariatric surgery, otherwise known as gastric surgery, the autopsy report noted that it was “not related to the immediate cause of death.”
