Former Miss Brazil has died at age 27 following a routine tonsil surgery, report says

• Gleycy Correia, a former Brazilian beauty queen, has died at age 27 after months in a coma.
• In March, she underwent a tonsilectomy, and subsequently suffered bleeding and cardiac arrest.

A Brazilian beauty queen died Monday, months after she underwent a routine tonsil surgery, the New York Post reported.

27-year-old Gleycy Correia, who was crowned Miss United Continents Brazil in 2018, reportedly went in for the procedure in late March and suffered a hemorrhage five days later, her family's priest said, according to The Sun and The Mirror.

On April 4, she went into cardiac arrest and fell into a coma until her death June 20, the priest said. "God chose this day to collect our princess. We know that she will be greatly missed, but she will now be brightening the sky with her smile," he said, according to the reports.

It's unclear if the procedure directly caused the bleeding, cardiac arrest, and death. An autopsy report is pending, the outlets wrote.

Serious complications from tonsillectomies are rare

The tonsils help prevent bacteria and viruses from entering the mouth, but they can also become inflamed and infected— also known as tonsillitis, the Mayo Clinic says. People who have tonsillitis frequently and don't respond to other treatments may opt to get theirs removed via tonsillectomy.

Enlarged tonsils can also obstruct breathing and interfere with good sleep, hence another reason to get them removed. It's unclear why Correia sought a tonsillectomy.

The procedure is most common in children, and its risks and benefits increasingly debated.

In adults, tonsilectomies are generally safe, with only 1.2% of patients experiencing complications and 0.03% dying within 30 days, according to a 2014 analysis of nearly 6,000 tonsillectomy patients. The most common complications were infections like pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and those at the site of the surgery.

Bleeding during the healing process is also possible, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Like any intense stress on the body, severe bleeding can cause cardiac arrest — or when the heart suddenly stops beating, according to the National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus. That often leads to unconsciousness due to the lack of blood flow to the brain, and is deadly if not treated promptly.