Michelle Trachtenberg — the 39-year-old actress who was found dead in her New York City apartment on Feb. 26 — died of complications from diabetes mellitus, New York City's medical examiner said Wednesday. The manner of death was ruled natural..

At the time of her death, ABC News reported that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl star had recently undergone a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications. A source close to the situation confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment that Trachtenberg had a liver transplant prior to her death.

The development of diabetes after undergoing an organ transplant is common.

How common is it?

According to the National Institutes of Health, post-transplant diabetes mellitus, or PTDM, affects between 10% and 40% of patients undergoing solid organ transplantation and is associated with a higher mortality rate compared to patients who do not develop the condition.

Developing diabetes is as common for kidney transplant recipients (up to 25%) as those who receive liver transplants, and more common for lung (up to 35%) and heart transplant patients (up to 40%), per a 2022 study published in the National Library of Medicine.

What are the risk factors?

In addition to standard diabetes risk factors such as obesity and ethnicity, the study found that patients undergoing transplantation have additional risk factors due to post-transplant medications like immunosuppressants or corticosteroids that are necessary to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ.

“Corticosteroids may reduce peripheral insulin sensitivity, inhibit pancreatic production/secretion, and increase hepatic gluconeogenesis,” the study states.

What are the symptoms of PTDM?

Symptoms of post-transplant diabetes mellitus are the same as those with type 2 diabetes and include:

Increased urine

Excessive thirst and hunger

Weight loss

Fatigue

Blurry vision

Numbness of extremities

Signs of infection

Trachtenberg did not publicly reveal any health conditions. Following her death, People magazine reported that Trachtenberg was "really down emotionally" last year as she dealt with "health issues."