Cause versus manner of death, postmortem tissue changes, and basic wound pathology concepts.
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- In forensic pathology, what is the 'cause of death'?
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The specific injury or disease that starts the lethal chain of events (e.g., gunshot wound, myocardial infarction).- In forensic pathology, what is the 'manner of death'?
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The circumstance or fashion in which the cause of death came about.- What are the five standard manners of death?
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Natural, accident, suicide, homicide, and undetermined.- Who has legal authority to determine the manner of death?
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The medical examiner or coroner.- A patient dies from an unexpected fatal reaction to a medication taken exactly as prescribed. What manner of death is this?
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Accident.- What is the 'mechanism of death'?
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The physiologic derangement, such as exsanguination or arrhythmia, produced by the cause of death that actually brings about death.- On a death certificate, what does the 'immediate cause of death' refer to?
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The final disease or condition that directly resulted in death.- On a death certificate, what does the 'underlying cause of death' refer to?
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The disease or injury that set in motion the chain of events leading to death.- When is a death classified with an 'undetermined' manner of death?
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When the available evidence is not sufficient to establish a specific manner with reasonable certainty.- What manner of death applies when another person's intentional act causes death?
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Homicide.- What is 'algor mortis'?
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The postmortem cooling of the body toward ambient temperature.- Approximately how long after death does rigor mortis first begin to appear?
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About 2 to 6 hours after death.- Rigor mortis follows ____, which states that stiffening appears first in small muscles (such as the jaw and eyelids) and progresses to larger muscle groups.
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Nysten's law- About how long after death does rigor mortis begin to resolve?
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About 24 to 36 hours after death, as autolysis breaks down muscle proteins.- What is 'livor mortis' (postmortem lividity)?
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Purple-red discoloration of the skin caused by gravity settling blood into dependent capillaries after circulation stops.
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