Dr Bumbum: Brazil cosmetic surgeon on run after patient dies

Dr Denis Furtado has nearly 650,000 followers on Instagram

A celebrity Brazilian cosmetic surgeon known as Dr Bumbum has gone on the run after a woman died following injections he gave her to enlarge her buttocks.

Investigators say Dr Denis Furtado carried out the procedure on Lilian Calixto at his home in Rio de Janeiro but she fell ill during the procedure.

Dr Furtado took her to a hospital where her condition worsened and she died some hours later, police said.

He then disappeared and a judge has issued a warrant for his arrest.

Dr Furtado, 45, has appeared on Brazilian television and has nearly 650,000 followers on his Instagram account.

Ms Calixto, a 46-year-old married mother of two who worked in banking, had travelled from her home in Cuiabá, central Brazil, to undergo buttock enhancement by Dr Furtado on Saturday evening, reports said.

The procedure, believed to involve the injection of acrylic glass filler, took place at his apartment in the upmarket district of Barra de Tijuca.

Lilian Calixto went to Dr Furtado's apartment for the procedure to enhance her buttocks

The Hospital Barra D'Or in Rio de Janeiro said that, despite efforts to save her, Ms Calixto was "unresponsive to manoeuvres" and died early on Sunday morning. The exact reason for her death has not been confirmed.

Police said Dr Furtado's girlfriend has been arrested on suspicion of taking part in the procedure.

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The Regional Medical Council of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Cremerj) said it had opened an investigation into Ms Calixto's death.

Niveo Steffen, president of the Brazilian Plastic Surgery Society, said there was a "growing invasion of non-specialists" in the industry.

"You cannot perform plastic surgery inside an apartment," he told AFP news agency.

"Many people are selling a dream, a fantasy to patients in an unethical way and people, weakened, are often attracted to low prices, without considering whether or not the conditions are adequate."

Dr Furtado has built up a large online following through various social media accounts.

Aside from his popular Instagram page, he is also very active on Facebook - filling his page with before-and-after shots of buttocks procedures - and on YouTube, where he presents advice on everything from endometriosis to low-carb diets.

In one social media post, he said he was given the name Dr Bumbum by his clients and had embraced it as a term of affection.

He signed off from many of his posts with the nickname, and ran a series of segments on Facebook called "Dr Bumbum teaches…"