Lisa Marie Presley Died From ‘Long-Term Complication’ of Weight-Loss Surgery, Coroner Says

Lisa Marie Presley arrives at the 2012 Billboard Awards at MGM Garden Arena on May 20, 2012 in Las Vegas, NV — Photo by Jean_Nelson/Deposit Photos

Six months after Lisa Marie Presley died in January at age 54, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office has released its autopsy report.

The coroner’s office said on its online records portal that Presley’s death was caused by a “sequelae of small bowel obstruction.” Her manner of death was listed as natural.

According to the National Institutes of Health, a “small bowel obstruction is a common surgical emergency due to mechanical blockage of the bowel… the leading cause in the developed world is intra-abdominal adhesions.”

People magazine obtained the full autopsy report, which noted that Presley developed the condition after bariatric surgery several years ago. The obstruction was caused by adhesions that emerged sometime after the weight-loss surgery.

“This is a known long-term complication of this type of surgery,” Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Juan Carrillo noted in the report.

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Presley additionally had therapeutic levels of Oxycodone and Buprenorphine — a medication used to treat pain as well as opioid overuse — in her system, the toxicology report said. Although the report noted that the drugs did not contribute to her death.

Presley passed away after apparently going into cardiac arrest on Jan. 12, and being hospitalized. The autopsy report said she had been complaining of abdominal pain on the morning of her death.

Dr. Folasade P. May, associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the Melvin and Bren Simon Gastroenterology Quality Improvement Program, told CNN Thursday that he believes Presley “developed a cardiac arrest because she had a severe complication from the small bowel obstruction.”

Presley was the only daughter of the late Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla said in a statement in January. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers.”

Lisa Marie Presley, a singer and philanthropist, is survived by twin daughters Harper and Finley Lockwood, 15, and daughter Riley Keough, 34. Her son Benjamin Keough died by suicide in 2020.

Riley Keough was nominated for an Emmy Award this week in the lead actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie for her role in Daisy Jones & the Six.


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