Post Mortem Changes

Question 1

When can post mortem changes appear?

Answer 1

Early

Late

Question 2

What are examples of early post mortem changes?

Answer 2

Temperature

Hypostasis

Rigot mortis

Question 3

What are examples of late post mortem changes?

Answer 3

Decomposition and autolysis

Mummification

Adipocere

Skeletonisation

Question 4

What does the human body cooling not obey and why?

Answer 4

Newton’s law of cooling as metabolic heat production does not occur uniformly

Question 5

How long does heat production occur after death?

Answer 5

For a variable time

Question 6

What is the rate of cooling proportional to?

Answer 6

The difference in temperature between the body surface and its surroundings

Question 7

What are some factors that affect body cooling?

Answer 7

Initial body temperature

Strenous activity

Body dimensions

Ambient temperature

Clothing and covering

Air movement and humidity

Medium around the body

Posture

Haemorrhage

Question 8

What is hypostasis?

Answer 8

Gravity pulls blood to the lowst accesible area when circulation ceases

Question 9

What does the pattern from hypostasis depend on?

Answer 9

Posture

Question 10

What can sometimes be helpful to identify the cause of death in relation to blood?

Answer 10

The colour of hypostasis

Question 11

What is rigor mortis?

Answer 11

Stiffening and shortening of muscle fibres leading to rigidly of the musculature and fixation of the joints

Question 12

What does rigor mortis happen due to?

Answer 12

Reduction of ATP within the muscles after death

Question 13

What are factors affecting the timing or rigor mortis?

Answer 13

Temperature

Physical activity before death

Body temperature at time of death

Convulsions

Electrocution

Question 14

What are the 2 kinds of decompostion?

Answer 14

Putrefaction (microbiological degradation)

Autolysis (endogenous proteolytic degradation, due to enzymes)

Question 15

What is putrefaction decomposition?

Answer 15

Microbiological degradation

Question 16

What is autolysis degradation?

Answer 16

Endogenous proteolytic degradation due to enzymes

Question 17

What are variables that affect decomposition?

Answer 17

Ambient temperature

Humidity

Cleanliness of the environment the body is lying in

Question 18

What is mummification?

Answer 18

The process of dry decomposition, with desiccation of the body and a relative lack of bacterial involvement

Question 19

What a happens to the body during mummification?

Answer 19

It essentially dries out

Question 20

What is adipocere?

Answer 20

Induced by the alteration of fatty tissues within the body into a greasy/waxy or brittle material which frequently remains attaches to the body skeleton and may retain the body structure to some extent

Question 21

When does adipocere tend to happen?

Answer 21

In damp or wet environments

Question 22

What is skeletonisation?

Answer 22

The condition when all of the soft tissue of the body have completely degraded

Question 23

What is useful to age bones?

Answer 23

Radioisotopes

Question 24

Why can the time of death not be estimated with any any accuracy?

Answer 24

Due to so many variables

Question 25

What are the basic rules of thumb for estimating the time of death?

Answer 25

0-12 hours (body temperature is most useful, 1^oC drop per hour)

24 hours (rigor mortis and hypostasis)

48 hours to 3 weeks (putrefaction)

Months to years (adipocere, mummification, skeletonisation)