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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What happens after a coroner is dispatched to the scene of a death?
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If cause of death is obvious, the pt is just sent to the mortuary. If not - may do external exam. If any ? remains, full autopsy's preformed
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What are the reportable cases to a coroner?
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Murder, suicide, trauma, heat, exposure, neglect, suffocation, aspiration, abortion/stillborn, alcoholism, OD, poisoning, unknown death after workup, drowning, radiation, contagious disease, prison death, tx/OR deaths, no MD w/in 10 days of death, or death w/in 24hrs of admin
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What are the general changes after death?
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Cold, stiff, green, and smelly!
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What information is used to determine time of death?
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Body temperature, rigor mortis, livor mortis, and vitreous potassium.
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What's the traditional body cooling after death?
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No real change for the first hour than 1.5 degree drop every hour after that. (only works when lightly clothed at room temp)
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What factors influence changes in body temp after death?
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Environment temp, clothing, wind, dirt/water burial, humidity (drier = inc cooling), body temp at time of death, object contact, and size of pt.
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What determines the rate and duration of cooling after death?
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Body size determines the duration, enviro temp determines the rate.
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What causes rigor mortis?
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It's a chem rxn - dec ATP = severe muscle contraction (takes less time in warm areas or if pt was active before death)
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How long does it take rigor mortis to manifest? How long does it last?
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Manifests in 2-4 hrs, complete in 9-12 hrs, lasts 1-2 days.
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Where does rigor begin first?
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It begins in all the muscles at the same time
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What factors speed rigor?
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High enviro temp, fever, stress, exercise, "difficult" death, convulsions, infection
(= anything that leads you with less ATP at time of death) |
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What factors slow rigor?
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Cold
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What is cutis anserina?
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"gooseflesh" seen in pts in rigor due to pili muscle contraction (doesn't happen very often)
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How can rigor be used to determine movement of a body after death?
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Rigor sets in in the position the pt died in
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What's cadaveric spasm?
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Pt that does into rigor right after death due to some process that speeds up rigor
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What is livor mortis?
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Settling of blood in dependent areas of the body after death
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What color is livor mortis?
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Usually purple - can see red with CO or CN poisoning or paler colors with anemia/cold
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What the time table of livor mortis?
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Starts immediately, you can notice in 20-120min, it's well developed in 4 hrs and fixed in 8-12 hrs.
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What are Tardieu's spots?
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Livor mortis subset - subq/pleura hemorrhages during hypoxia (esp strangulation)
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What's traches-noire?
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When people die with their eyes partially open, the part exposed to air shrivels = black line. Takes 3 hrs to develop
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What is autolysis and putrefaction when discussing decomposition?
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Autolysis = body eats itself due to the release of enzymes
Putrefaction = growth of microorganisms, may help decomp body |
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What are the features of decomposition?
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Gas production, skin slippage/marbling, odor, detachment of hair/nails, fluid leakage, maggots, focal skin dehydration.
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What happens with mummification?
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Body dehydrates so fast that bacteria can't grow on it
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What is adipocere?
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His definition: When body's submerged underwater for months = soapy fat with really horrible smell
Real definition: Anaerobic fat hydrolysis = waxy casts. |
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Name the 7 types of injuries that can lead to death.
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Blunt force (contusion, laceration = broken skin)
Sharp force (incision, stab) Gunshot Shotgun Explosive Thermal Electrical |
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What's the difference between an incision and a stab wound?
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Incision is wider than it is deep and visa versa for stab
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What's the difference between a contusion and a laceration?
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A laceration a contusion with a break of the skin
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What can be used as causes of death?
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Diseases, physiologic events, and morphologic diagnoses
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What are examples of the manner of death?
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Natural, accidental, homocide, suicide, undetermined
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What's important about cause and manners of death
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Every death has both and a given cause can have several manners, depending on circumstances
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