Preliminary autopsy results for the late pop star Shin Hae Chul, who died last week at the age of 46, reportedly following a surgical procedure at Seoul Sky Hospital, were released on Monday.

Despite malpractice allegations from family members and friends of Shin that led to the forensic report being conducted in the first place, the initial results appeared inconclusive, describing small intestinal cuts that led to a blood infection, but failing to state whether these "lacerations" were the result of an unnecessary or improperly conducted medical procedure.

Head of South Korea's National Forensic Services Choi Young Shik described the results in an official press briefing, as reported by eNEWS.

"A perforation of the size .3 centimeters was found in the lower part of the pericardium [the double-walled sac that holds the heart and its blood vessels]," Choi said.

"As it was found in the vicinity of the enteroplasty [where Shin's intestinal surgery was], an iatrogenic effect is being highly considered."

An iatrogenic effect is illness or injury as a result of a medical treatment, caused by unforeseen side effects, or in some cases, negligence.

"The perforation near the lower part of the small intestine which [we discovered], was sewn up at Seoul Asan Hospital, so we cannot be certain," Choi said. "We'll have to review it after receiving the results from the said hospital."

"It is a reasonable opinion to say that the cause of death, which was known as hypoxic-ischemic brain damage, was due to merging of peritonitis [inflammation of the abdominal lining] and pericarditis [inflammation of the pericardium], resulting in septicemia [an infection of the blood]."

Though the medical official appeared to concede the results of the autopsy looked suspicious, he warned that it was just a preliminary result, with the full report coming out within the next couple of weeks.

"We're judging that the perforations and related issues that led to death relate to the operation, or the equivalent, and may have been caused by it," he said.

"The final results will come out after the medical records of the first medical institution and Asan Hospital have been collected together."

Also known as Demon Lord or Cult leader, Shin fronted the eclectic South Korean rock band N.EX.T from 1992 until he disbanded the group in 2008. It was around that time he was diagnosed with the cognitive disorder prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces.

The singer's family had reportedly been planning to have his body cremated as late as Friday morning, but decided on the autopsy after an increasing number of voices, both inside the family and outside it, began calling for one.

At a memorial service for Shin on Friday at Seoul's Asan Medical Center, international K-pop star PSY dismissed the suggestion that the family allowed the forensic report with the aim of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against Seoul Sky Hospital.

"The bereaved family feels as if the world is caving in," he told the Hollywood Reporter.

"The autopsy is irrelevant to whether or not the family decides to file charges. The family does not want this. It is so that we could know why he passed away, irrespective of possible legal disputes."