MOSCOW, June 1 (RIA Novosti) - Investigators in Moscow are trying to trace a surgeon, whose patient recently died as a result of an alleged fatal medical error made some 14 years ago, the head of the Moscow Investigation department said on Monday.

Anatoly Bagmet said a probe had been launched into the death of a person from south Russia's Krasnodar Territory who died in January 2009.

"An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was cardiac surgery, performed in 1995 in the Bakulev Cardiology Institute in Moscow. The surgeon, who performed the operation, left a swab in the patient's heart," Bagmet said.

The swab caused chronic pericarditis, or inflammation of tissues surrounding the heart. Six months after surgery the patient suffered a minor infarction and ten years later a stroke.

Investigators are currently trying to identify the surgeon who performed the operation. However, most of the hospital's records from 1995 are missing, the official said.