Post-Mortem Changes Flashcards
List the stages of death
Somatic or clinical death occurs and then cellular death begins Cooling Hypostatic lividity Rigor mortis Putrefaction Skeletonisation
Why does the body cool after death
Body stops creating energy after death and instead starts losing it
What causes hypostatic lividity
Blood settling in the capillaries after death - stops circulating
It settles with gravity
What is putrefaction
The breakdown of the body and its tissues/cells
Caused by body’s own bacteria and enzymes
How long does it take putrefaction to set in
Occurs over the days/weeks/months following death
Dependent on the environment
How long does skeletonisation take to occur
Most likely years after death
Could be months if conditions are right
What is algor mortis
The chill of death
The body cooling after death
What is livor mortis
The darkening of death
Skin changes colour (purple/red) due to blood settling
What is rigor mortis
The stiffening of death
Muscles seize up after death and body becomes stiff
Occurs over hours
What are the benefits of post-mortem changes
Can be used to confirm death - indisputable and confirms resus is futile
Allow you to estimate the time of death - post-mortem interval
Have specific forensics uses - suggest position at death or movement of body
What are the problems that post-mortem changes can cause
Produce confusing artefacts
Destroy evidence of identity, injury & mask disease (especially in advanced cases)
Which part of the body is the most resistant to hypoxic injury
Bone and corneas - survive up to 48hrs
Skin - survives up to 24hrs
Can be harvested and transplanted for days after due to resilience
Which part of the body is the most sensitive to hypoxic injury
The CNS - brain and spinal cord
Only last about 4 minutes without O2
Peripheral nerves last 5 mins
How long can skeletal muscles survive hypoxia
Around 3 hours
How long can blood cells survive hypoxia
Around 6 hours
List potential causes of PM artefacts
Collapse/Falls at the time of death Resuscitation efforts - can cause damage Animals - if body unprotected Water Fire Recovery of body - e.g. use of ropes can cause damage
How can collapse or falls at the time of death lead to PM artefacts
Strike nearby objects or the ground when falling
Don’t have the protective reflexes to protect themselves
Typical sites include the eyebrows, nose, chin, cheek (protruding areas take brunt)
Also affects the back of head if fall backwards
These injuries can have nothing to do with the CoD (facial injury from forward collapse following cardiac arrest)
List potential PM artefacts caused by resuscitation efforts
Bruising to neck, face, chest
Scratch abrasions to face
Abrasions on inside of cheek - rubbed against teeth due to intubation or mask
Mask marks
Needle puncture marks - cannulas
Gripping of arms to move or lift patient can cause bruising
(particularly upper arms)
Localised defibrillator burns - especially if skin is dry
Chest compression can perforate the stomach - lots of force applied to body
What increases the risk of stomach perforation during CPR
If done on a full stomach
Or if carried out improperly
Which animals typically leave PM artefacts
Insects - small lesions/bites
Fish / crabs - body from water, eat exposed areas first
Rats - eat at exposed areas (can jump high!)
Pets - if owner dies in house and isn’t feeding them or discovered for some time
List common artefacts of immersion
Entry impact - if jumping in from height Washerwoman change Gooseflesh Rocks & river bed injuries Rocks & sea bed injuries in tidal water “Undressing” by water movement Fish & crabs Recovery of body
List common artefacts of fire
PM burns & tissue loss
Skin splits - can occur when body is moved or before (due to heat)
Heat fractures
Extradural haematoma
Falling masonry
Recovery of body - will be fragile due to heat damage
What is maceration
A form of putrefaction that occurs in fetuses’ when in utero
The womb should be sterile no putrefactive bacteria to break down the foetus so it autolyses instead
Form of wet putrefaction
Which type of putrefaction is favoured by wet conditions
Adipocere
Which type of putrefaction is favoured by dry conditions
Mummification
Also favors warmth
What type of putrefaction is favoured by bacteria
Wet putrefaction
What are the possible sources of information for determining ToD
Corporal evidence (on the body) Environmental & associated evidence Anamnestic evidence (habits & activities) - often the most useful
What is anamnestic evidence
Evidence based off the victims usual habits and activities
E.g. when/where they last seen alive, where should they have been according to schedule
How can post-mortem interval be used by the police
Can give someone an alibi or show they had opportunity
e.g. compare window of death to where they were at the time
Describe the rate method for calculating PMI
Observe or measure changes which occur at known rate - estimate death from this
Changes initiated or stopped by specific events i.e. death
(e.g. lividity, rigor, cooling, putrefaction as all start at time of death)
There is no reliable method for calculating PMI - true or false
True
All have degrees of variation
Describe the concurrence method of determining PMI
Uses events which occurred at known times
e.g. watch stopping in fire or stage of digestion of last known meal (if food is still identifiable in stomach they died shortly after last meal)
What are the main issues with the rate method for determining PMI
Many physico-chemical changes begin at death and each has its own time factor (e.g. lividity, rigor, cooling, vitreous K, putrefaction)
Unpredictable endogenous & environmental factors can effect results
The longer the PMI the less precise the estimate - true or false
True
Can be accurate if within a few hours of death but beyond this the timings are vague (i.e. putrefaction can only be accurate to days/weeks)
Which factors are used in practice to estimate PMI via the rate method
Rigor, cooling and putrefaction
Factors are combined
How do you measure core temperature in the deceased
Subcostal stab - temperature probe put into the liver
Rectal temperature
Serial measurements are preferred
In what cases would you not use a rectal temperature
Suspected sexual assault cases
Rectum should be undisturbed in sexual cases so that it can instead be swabbed for DNA, semen etc.
More important than temp
Inserting a thermometer can contaminate the area
Why is an internal temperature required to estimate PMI
The outside of the body (e.g. Axilla or mouth) will be cooler than core temperature
Internal is more accurate of true core temperature
What environmental factors are required for a body to cool after death
Cooling requires a difference between body and environmental temp
Only useful in temperate and cool climates
In hot places putrefaction sets in quicker - may not have fully cooled
In what time frame is body temperature useful in indicating PMI
Useful in the first 24hrs and only in temperate/cool climate
Only truly reliable during the linear cooling phase which is typically 6-12 hours PM
Which factors influence the rate of body cooling
Body size Exposed surface area Environmental temperature and how it fluctuates Drafts & humidity Clothing & coverings - retains heat Immersion in water - cools faster
Larger bodies cool faster - true or false
False
Smaller bodies cool faster as they have large surface area and low volume
Larger bodies can retain more heat - greater mass
A flow of air or a draft will speed up the cooling process - true or false
True
The heat is moved off the body
Describe the progression of body cooling (as in Newton’s Law of cooling)
At first the body retains some heat so temperature plateaus (up to 5 hours from death)
The heat is lost quickly by convection, radiation, conduction and evaporation
Cooling occurs in a linear fashion for 6-12 hours
After this the curve levels out - becomes unreliable
Bodies can increase in temperature slightly due to putrefaction - true or false
True
List some of the unknown variables that affect the cooling process
Length of plateau can vary
Body temperature at time of death - usually unknown
Environmental temp during cooling period - particularly if there is fluctuation
Which conditions can decrease body temperature at time of death
Hypothermia
CCF
Haemorrhage
Which conditions can increase body temperature at time of death
Heatstroke Septicaemia Pontine haemorrhage Strangulation, Struggle before death
What is the Henssge Nomogram used for
Used to estimate ToD from body temperature
Based on a mathematical cooling model
Allows us to account for certain variables - applied as corrective factors
What assumptions does the Henssge nomogram make
Normal body temperature at time of death
No change in cooling conditions during PMI
Which variables can the Henssge nomogram account for
Amount of clothing
Body weight
Drafts
Whether or not the body was in water
What is the main issue with the corrective factors in the Henssge nomogram
Corrective factors are subjective - e.g. thick vs thin layers
Depends on the pathologist’s experience
When can the Henssge nomogram NOT be used
Strong heat source nearby
Cooling source nearby
Underlying surface conducts heat
Will alter the cooling process and make estimation unreliable
Abnormal body temp. at death
Body has been moved - change un surface area will change cooling speed
Bodies cool slower in water than in air - true or false
False
They cool faster as water is a better heat conductor
(water removes heat from body by conduction)
What is the difference between still and flowing water in terms of body cooling
Bodies cool 2x faster in still water than still air
They cool 3x faster in flowing water than still air
So bodies cool faster in moving water than in still
Tidal is considered similar to still water
What is primary muscle flaccidity
The loss of muscle tone at death
Body goes floppy/limp and collapses
List the progression of muscle flaccidity after death
Start with primary flaccidity
Then muscles become rigid in rigor mortis (over hours)
Then it relaxes again into secondary flaccidity which is permenant
What is cadaveric spasm
Immediate rigor following death
Stiffening occurs at moment of death & persists into period of rigor mortis
A rare phenomenon
What can cause cadaveric spasm
Violent/emotional deaths
Victims will grab onto anything they can
Seen in drowning most commonly - grab onto weeds/plants
What causes rigor mortis
Death interrupts the actin-myosin pathway - there is no more energy for relaxation to occur (ATP required for this process)
This causes the muscles to stay ‘contracted’ and the body gradually stiffens
What can cause muscle stiffness in a corpse
Rigor mortis
Cadaveric spasm
Heat stiffening
Freezing the body
Describe the process of heat stiffening in a body
Seen in bodies in fire
The muscle is ‘cooked’ by the heat as the proteins within them coagulate
This causes the muscle fibres to shorten and the body flexes into pugilistic attitude
Don’t see proper rigor as a result