Kanye West never made any secret of how much his mother Dr Donda West meant to him, filling his albums with mentions of her and, in one case, an entire song dedicated to her.

But now Donda West is dead at the tragically young age of 58, and it's time for Kanye West and the authorities to find out why. At the moment the finger seems to be pointing to complications arising from a cosmetic surgery procedure, possibly involving an existing heart condition. Regardless of whose mother she was, Donda West's death will come as a shock to the increasing number of people who see cosmetic surgery as a completely harmless routine procedure. Although the majority of plastic surgery operations go smoothly, chances are the world is asking the same question today: why Kanye West's mother and not, say, Jodie Marsh?

Up until Saturday, 2007 was set to be Kanye West's year. Still one of the most in-demand producers on the planet, Kanye West managed to score gigantic, record-breaking first-week sales of his latest album Graduation while still managing to squeeze in his traditional award-show tantrums and furthering the obligatory rapper sideline of apparel, accessories and charity foundations simultaneously.

Actually, Kanye West wasn't exactly in charge of that last part – that was the job of his mother Donda West, the former chairwoman of the Chicago State University English department. Donda West was in charge of Super Good, the parent company of everything Kanye West-related, as well as being the woman who raised Kanye West alone since he was 11 months old. Donda was also an important creative influence on Kanye, who once said of his mother that: 

"I never make any important decision without consulting her."

And now Donda West is dead at 58, after paramedics were called to her house at 7:35pm on Saturday. Although initial reports suggested nothing was amiss with her death, details started to emerge yesterday saying that she died of complications following an operation, and now it seems almost certain that she died after a cosmetic procedure.

Why? Following the announcement of her death, Dr. Andre Aboolian, a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon, has come forward to say that he refused to operate on Donda a fortnight ago because of an undisclosed preexisting medical condition of hers. Although far from conclusive, it seems as though the medical condition could be the explanation for her untimely death. Meanwhile, the surgeon who operated on Donda West – Dr. Jan Adams – says that he did nothing wrong during the procedure and that she may have died from a heart attack, pulmonary embolism or vomiting. No doubt after a coroner's report is published all will be made clear.

As for Kanye West, a statement released on behalf of his family read:

"Kanye West, his family and friends would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support and kind words that have come in from across the country since the death of his mother, Dr. Donda West."

There has been no word on the status of the UK tour Kanye West was due to kick off next Thursday in London, or any of his other forthcoming projects.