Forensic Medicine and Thanatology Practice Flashcards

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering Forensic Medicine, Toxicology, and Thanatology based on lecture notes, including medical definitions, legal sections, and postmortem phenomena.

Virtopsy (Digital Autopsy)

A word combining 'virtual' and 'autopsy', it is a bloodless and minimally invasive procedure on a dead body using imaging methods like CT and MRI to find the cause of death.

Negative Autopsy

An autopsy where no cause of death is found, and microscopic, toxicological, histopathological, and microbiological investigations are all negative.

Obscure Autopsy

An autopsy with minimal, indefinite, or obscure findings where a cause of death could not be determined, often causing confusion for the forensic pathologist.

Venous Air Embolism

Occurs when air enters the systemic venous circulation and travels to the right ventricle and pulmonary circulation; injecting more than $100\,ml$ of air at rates greater than $100\,ml/s$ can be fatal.

Arterial Air Embolism

Occurs when air enters the arterial system; $2\,ml$ of air in the cerebral circulation can be fatal, and $0.5\,ml$ of air in a coronary artery can cause cardiac arrest.

Pyrogallol Test

A test where air is brought in contact with an alkaline Pyrogallol solution; if the solution turns brown, it indicates an antemortem air embolism.

Bloodless Dissection of Neck

A technique involving placing a block under the shoulders to extend the neck, removing the brain, and allowing $15-20$ minutes for blood drainage to obtain a clear field for examination.

Histopathology Preservation

The study of tissues using parts removed from affected areas (edge of normal tissue) cut into $1\,cm$ thickness and preserved in $10\%$ neutral formalin or $95\%$ alcohol.

Hepburn Osteometric Board

A tool used to find the length of a bone to determine the stature of an individual.

Exhumation

The lawful digging out of a buried body from a grave for medico-legal examination, performed under Section $176\text{ CrPC}$ ($\text{Cl } 196\text{ BNSS}$).

Somatic (Systemic) Death

The complete and irreversible stoppage of circulation, respiration, and brain functions (Bishop's tripod of life).

Cellular (Molecular) Death

The death of individual cells and tissues individually; the brain dies within $5$ minutes, while skin and kidneys can survive for $4$ hours.

Atria Mortis

The gateways of death: the heart, lung, and brain, as death enters through the stoppage of these organs.

Brainstem Death

A state where the region connecting the cerebrum and spinal cord is dead, rendering the person irreversibly unconscious and apneic.

Harvard Criteria

A set of conditions used for diagnosing brainstem death, including several absent reflexes and a flat EEG.

Syncope

A transient, self-limited loss of consciousness with an inability to maintain postural tone, followed by spontaneous recovery, caused by acute global impairment of cerebral blood flow.

Asphyxia

A condition caused by interference with respiration or lack of oxygen in respired air, combined with failure to eliminate carbon dioxide.

Coma

A state of deep, often prolonged unconsciousness where an individual is incapable of sensing or responding to external stimuli and internal needs.

THOTA 2014

The Human Organ Transplant (Amendment) Act 2014, which governs the removal, storage, and transplantation of human organs and prevents commercial dealings.

Sudden Death

The death of a person not known to have suffered from a dangerous disease, who dies within $24\text{ hours}$ after the onset of symptoms.

Suspended Animation (Apparent Death)

A state where vital functions are reduced to a minimum and are not detected by routine clinical methods, though the brainstem remains functioning.

Anaphylactic Shock

A rapidly evolving, multi-system allergic reaction (type 1 hypersensitivity) that is often fatal due to rapid progression to respiratory collapse.

Bishop's Tripod of Life

The Cardiovascular system, Respiratory system, and the Central nervous system.

Cause of Death

The disease or injury that produces the physiological disruption inside the body resulting in death.

Mechanism of Death

The physiological derangement, such as hemorrhage or blood loss, that results in death.

Manner of Death

The way in which the cause of death came about, classified as natural or unnatural (accident, suicide, homicide).

Tardieu Spots

Petechial hemorrhages caused by an acute rise in venous pressure, common in asphyxial deaths but not seen in cases of drowning.

Presumption of Death

Explained under Section $108\text{ IEA}$, it presumes a person dead if there has been no proof of their existence for $7\text{ years}$.

Presumption of Survivorship

Explained under Section $107\text{ IEA}$, it legally presumes the younger of two people survived when they died together and the order of death is unknown.

Algor Mortis

The cooling of the body after death; the cooling curve is typically sigmoid-shaped (Marshal's curve).

Postmortem Caloricity

A slight rise in body temperature after death, seen in cases such as tetanus, strychnine poisoning, or sun stroke.

Postmortem Hypostasis (Livor Mortis)

The bluish-purple discoloration on the dependent parts of the body caused by gravity settling blood in the toneless capillaries after circulation ceases.

Rigor Mortis (Cadaveric Rigidity)

The stiffening and shortening of muscles after death due to the irreversible fusion of actin and myosin when ATP levels fall below $15\%$, following Nysten's rule.

Nysten's Rule

The proximo-distal progression of Rigor Mortis starting from the eyelids, then moving to the face, neck, upper limbs, trunk, and finally lower limbs.

Autolysis

The self-digestion of tissues by lysosomes and hydrolytic enzymes without bacterial action.

Putrefaction

The disintegration of tissues by bacterial action, primarily by Clostridium perfringens (Cl. welchii), producing foul-smelling gases and skin discoloration.

Marbling

A pattern of greenish discoloration of superficial blood vessels resembling tree branches, caused by the formation of Sulph-methemoglobin, prominent within $36-48\text{ hours}$.

Casper’s Dictum

A rule stating the ratio of decomposition in air, water, and soil is $1:2:8$.

Postmortem Interval

The approximate range of time between the moment of death and the time of the postmortem examination.

Tache Noire Scleroticus

Two yellow/black triangles formed on the conjunctiva due to desiccation and mucus deposition when eyelids remain open after death, appearing in $3-6\text{ hours}$.

Kevorkian Sign (Cattle Trucking)

The fragmentation of blood in the retinal vessels when viewed through an ophthalmoscope after death.

Pugilistic Attitude (Fencing Attitude)

A flexed posture of a body recovered from intense heat, caused by the irreversible coagulation of muscle proteins and subsequent shortening of flexors.

Cadaveric Spasm (Instantaneous Rigor)

A rare phenomenon where a group of muscles already in contraction at the time of death remains stiff immediately without passing through primary flaccidity.

Adipocere (Saponification)

A modification of putrefaction where body fats are hydrolyzed and hydrogenated into fatty acids in moist, warm environments, taking at least $3\text{ weeks}$.

Mummification

A modification of putrefaction involving dehydration and drying of the body in dry or warm air, occurring over $3-6\text{ months}$ and resulting in dark, brittle skin.

Undertaker's Fracture

An artefact involving subluxation of the lower cervical spine caused by rough handling or the head falling backwards after death.

Foamy Liver

A liver appearance resembling Swiss cheese/honeycomb, caused by gas bubbles formed by Cl. perfringens during putrefaction.

Embalming

The temporary preservation of a body using antiseptic fluids (formalin) injected into the vascular system to delay decomposition.

Injury (Section 44 IPC)

Any harm illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation, or property.