Pathology

Question 1

ME vs Coroner

Answer 1

Me: medical doctor appointed by the governing area

C: elected official w/ no special medical training– except in 4 states it is a medical doctor

Question 2

ME Job

Answer 2

• Identify the deceased
• Establish the time and date of death
  -determine manner causes and mechanism of death
  -responsible for the body and all effects on the body even at the crime scene

Question 3

Medical vs Forensic autopsy

Answer 3

F: performed when suspicious, unknown death
M: to better understand diseases and causes of death

Question 4

rokitansky method

Answer 4

remove organs all at once

Question 5

Virchow procedure

Answer 5

each organ comes out seerateky and is immediately examined

Question 6

Skull incision and importance

Answer 6

ear to ear behind the head– determine what happened antemortem and postmortem

Question 7

prone

Answer 7

lying face down

Question 8

supine

Answer 8

lying face up

Question 9

Organs are weighed because

Answer 9

to look for signs of injury and disease

Question 10

Rigor Mortis

Answer 10

Stiffness of body
if body temp warm and not stiff: dead >3
warm but stiff: 3-8 hrd
cold and stiff: 8-36
cold and not stiff: <36

Question 11

Livor mortis

Answer 11

is the settling of blood, causing skin to change colors shows after 8 hours

Question 12

lividity

Answer 12

indicates the position of the body–fixed
after 10-15 hrs

Question 13

Algor mortis

Answer 13

body temp–changes to room temp over time

Question 14

algor mortis formula

Answer 14

98.6-measured temp/1.5 = hrs since death

Question 15

how long for blood to dry

Answer 15

30 min - 2 hrs

Question 16

discoloration of skin time

Answer 16

24 hrs-36 hrs (abdomen)

Question 17

bloating time

Answer 17

36-48 jrs

Question 18

skin slippage time

Answer 18

4-7 days

Question 19

absence of smell from bones time

Answer 19

more than a year

Question 20

eye changes

Answer 20

cornea drying (eyes open) - minutes
cornea drying (eyes closed) - 2 hours
corneal cloudiness (eyes open) - less than 2 hours
corneal cloudiness (eyes closed) - 12 to 24 hours
eyeball collapse - more than 24 hours

Question 21

Stomae

Answer 21

light: last 1-2 hrs
medium last 3-4
heavy 4-6

Question 22

Potassium

Answer 22

increased amounts while living but equals out after death

Question 23

Potassium formula

Answer 23

7.14 x pot. - 39.1 = time since death

Question 24

Traumatic deaths

Answer 24

mechanical: blunt force
thermal : excessive heat
asphyxia: interference of oxygen

Question 25

Manner of death

Answer 25

natural: natural disease (lung disease)
accident: result from unintentional action (OD, motor vehicle accident)
suicide: intentional (hanging)
homicide: death by another (stabbing, shooting(
undetermined: death cannot be known for sure (suicide od vs accidental od)

Question 26

cause of death

Answer 26

that which resulted in death

Question 27

mechanism

Answer 27

the physiological reason the body ceased living

Question 28

autolysis

Answer 28

spontaneous breakdown of cells