Post-Mortem Biochemistry

Words: 1819
Pages: 8
Open Document
Post-mortem biochemistry is earning high recognition in forensic laboratories; which shows a constant growth in this certain field of interest. Biochemical research assists in finding the cause of death, and can help determine the physiological effects of anatomic findings at the autopsy or possibly aid in discovering the time of death. An autopsy is a post-mortem examination to discover cause of death or the extent of a disease and explains the interaction between the two. There are two types of autopsies: forensic and clinical. Forensic autopsies are performed for suspicious or unknown causes. Clinical autopsies are performed by pathologists (a scientist who studies the causes and effects of diseases, especially one who examines laboratory …show more content…
As for diagnosis, clinical diagnostics are deemed superior to post-mortem diagnostics due to contributions in clinical chemistry and diagnostic imaging. With that being stated, since the 1980’s there has been a decrease in autopsy rates, in some countries the rate is less than 10%. A possible explanation to the decrease in clinical and forensic autopsies could be a result of; risk of infection, high costs, religious reasons, and clinical disinterest. The accuracy of a physician’s ability to find out the underlying cause of death is a reported 75 to 90% accuracy. The precision of determining the immediate cause of death is 40%. In comparison, two thirds of immediate causes of death in hospitalized patients were correctly diagnosed by postmortem computed tomography (CT). Postmortem computed tomography is a digital autopsy that is non-invasive, in which digital imaging technology, such as CT, is used to develop three-dimensional images for a virtual exploration of a human body. Postmortem CT could provide a different approach to confirming the immediate cause of …show more content…
The differences between forensic and clinical/hospital autopsies when trying to obtain the immediate cause of death most likely varied because of the ante-mortem clinical information at hand. Shortcomings of the postmortem CT are the inability to determine acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, and organ failure. A possibility in the postmortem CT’s ineffectiveness in identifying those conditions could be a result of not using contrast to indicate those cases. When diagnosing for respiratory failure, sepsis, and pneumonia, the postmortem CT were accurately diagnosed approximately 90% of patients in the study. The past ten years has shown a trend to disregard aggressive treatment of patients with a meager prognosis, such as in the final stages of cancer, incurable neurological disorders, and cerebrovascular disease. Palliative care is assumed to continue these prognoses by minimizing pain and trying to provide comfort. But, palliative care can also be expected for reducing healthcare costs by limiting or avoiding unnecessary treatment. In following those regards, it made diagnosis for those poor prognoses difficult to determine whether the actual immediate cause of death was due to the prognosis or from underlying complications of the disease. For an example, the clinicians were confident that the patient died from cancer progression, while both postmortem CT and
Show More

Related Documents: Post-Mortem Biochemistry

Essay about Psychology Describe And Evaluate Biological Explanations Of Schizophrenia 10 12 Marks

genetics and the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Neurological explanations of schizophrenia say that if schizophrenia is genetic, then there must be some neurological (brain) differences. Post mortem exams showed that schizophrenic brains are 6% lighter and the cortex was found with fewer neurons. However, with these post mortems, there is no way of establishing a cause and effect. It could be that these brain differences caused the schizophrenia, or the schizophrenia caused the brain differences. Similarly…

Words 957 - Pages 4

Haemonchosis Case Study

Summarise the problem that has led to the animals’ owner seeking your help. 1.Observing some animals slower in the mob and get behind during mustering 2.Having about 10% of animals recumbent by the end of mustering with many dead very soon after Identify a likely diagnosis for the problem described and the features in the scenario that make your diagnosis likely. Haemonchosis, A-Haemonchosis is most common in Queensland and Northern half of New South Wales where summer rainfall is dominant. Goulburn…

Words 2331 - Pages 10