Exam 3 Flashcards
What is pathology?
Involves cases of suspicious or unexplained death, and determine apparent cause of death, postmortem interval, manner of death, and identity of the deceased.
What is anatomic pathology?
A medical specialty originally designed to study the structural and morphological changes to the body as a result of a disease state.
What is clinical pathology?
The diagnosis of disease using laboratory testing of bodily fluids.
What are the two subcategories of cause of death?
Primary and secondary.
What are primary causes of death?
The immediate cause of death such as blood loss or suffocation.
What is secondary causes of death?
Conditions that contributed to death but weren’t the specific cause such as a bullet or rope.
What is a medico-legal autopsy?
Performed pursuant to a medical investigation of death for legal purposes.
What is manner of death?
The way in which the cause of death came to be.
What are the different manners of death?
Homicide, Natural Cause, Accidental, Suicide, and Undetermined.
What is the postmortem clock?
A principle of sequential changes that occur following death.
What must pathologists first determine?
The primary or immediate cause of death, and then the secondary or contributing causes of death.
What are mechanisms of death?
Physical, physiological, or chemical events that bring on cessation of life.
How much of the US uses the coroner system?
About 50%.
How do coroners get into office?
They are elected for the position.
How much formal education to coroners generally have?
Little to none.
What is required to be a medical examiner?
A physician that is appointed by the government.
How many total years of formal education do medical examiners typically have?
13-14 years
What are the death conditions that would warrant an autopsy?
If it was sudden/unexpected, violent, unattended, or suspicious.
What portion of autopsies are medico-legal?
About 1/3 of all autopsies.
What does autopsy literally mean?
To see with one’s own eyes.
What is the purpose of an autopsy?
To determine cause and manner of death.
What is necropsy?
The act of looking at the dead.
What are limiting factors for when an autopsy can be performed?
Religious, spiritual, or cultural factors that would qualify an autopsy as ethically wrong.
What is looked at in an external examination during an autopsy?
The entire body, wounds, and trauma. Pictures are taken during this time and will include the deceased clothed and unclothed.
What is looked at in an internal examination during an autopsy?
Bodily fluids, organs, and wound assessment. If necessary, x-rays would be taken at this time.
