1Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, S.S. Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Davanagere, Karnataka State, India,
2Professor & HOD, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, KLE University's J N Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka State, India,
3Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya, Karnataka State, India
4Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Chettinad Hospital and Research institute, Tamil Nadu, India,
5Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka State, India
6Post Graduate, Dept. of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, KLE University's J. N. Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, India
Corresponding author: Hemanth Raj M.N., Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, S.S Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Davanagere, Karnataka State, India, Mobile number: 09886301287, E-mail: hrbs2006@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 21 February, 2013.
Law has not tried to define death. By Black's law dictionary, death means "cessation of life or ceasing to exist ". Medico-legal definition of death is ‘permanent and irreversible cessation of functions of the three interlinked vital systems of the body which are called the tripod of life, namely the nervous, circulatory and respiratory systems’.
1. To study the autopsy diagnosis of cause of death. 2. To compare the clinical and autopsy diagnosis of cause of death. 3. To evaluate the accuracy of clinical diagnosis of cause of death.
During the present study period, a total of 100 medicolegal autopsies were conducted. Out of these, 58 (58%) cases were Road Traffic Accident (RTA), burns cases were 24(24%) followed by poisoning cases 8 (8%). There were 4 cases of fall from height (4%), snake bite 3 (3%) cases and 3 (3%) hanging cases.
It was observed that in 6 (10%) cases out of 58 cases of the total RTA cases, there was discordance regarding the opinion of cause of death. In the other 52 cases i.e. in 90% of the cases there was complete agreement with respect to the cause of death.
From this study it is concluded that medico legal autopsies revealed many unexpected findings that are of clinical importance, and a continued emphasis on autopsy correlation is necessary for the improvement of the quality of patient care.
Cause of Death, Road Traffic Accident, Burns, Poisoning, Fall from Height, Snake Bite, Hanging
