Medico-Legal Aspects of Death Flashcards
What is thanathology?
A branch of science that deals in death in all its aspects.
What are the estimations of the time of death? Explain each briefly.
(1) Physiological time of death - time when the victim’s functions actually ceased.
(2) Legal time of death - time recorded on the death certificate.
(3) Estimated time of death - time the medical examiner estimates the death occured
What are the three signs of death?
(1) Cessation of the heart and circulation
(2) Cessation of respiration
(3) Cooling of the body
(4) Insensibility of the body and loss of power to move
(5) Changes in the skin
What are the two stages of death?
(1) Somatic - refers to the death of the tissue, system, or body and is clinical death as a whole.
(2) Molecular - refers to the death of all individual cells within the body.
What are the three stages of death?
(1) Early Signs
(2) Immediate Signs
(3) Late Signs
What are the four early signs of death? Explain them briefly.
(1) Pallor Mortis - Skin becomes pale/white.
(2) Algor Mortis - The body starts cooling down.
(3) Livor Mortis - Due to gravitational force, the blood flow to the dependent parts of the body, causing stagnation of the blood resulting in bluish purple staining.
(4) Rigor Mortis - Contraction and stiffening of muscles after death.
What are the sequence of Rigor Mortis?
(1) Primary relaxation or flaccidity
(2) Rigor mortis or cadaveric rigidity
(3) Secondary relaxation
Under the late stage of death, what are under this?
(1) Decomposition or Putrefaction
(2) Adipocere or Saponifaction
(3) Mummification
What is putrefaction?
Putrefaction is the process by which complex organic body tissue break down into simpler inorganic compounds or elements due to the action of saprophytic micro-organisms.
What are the essential elements of putrefaction?
(1) Warmth
(2) Air
(3) Moisture
(4) Cloth
(5) Surface Injury
(6) Manner of burial
What is adipocere or saponification?
It is formed by the anaerobic bacteria, hydrolysis of fat in tissue, such as body fat in corpses. Fat is transformed to fatty acids by the process of hydrogenation.
What are the essential requirements for adipocere?
(1) Absence of air
(2) Excess of moisture
(3) Warmth
What is mummification?
It is the rapid dehydration and shriveling of the dead body from evaporation of water, with preservation of natural appearances and features of the body.
What are the essential requirements for mummification?
(1) Absence of moisture
(2) Excess of air
(3) Warmth
