Unit 1.3.1 Human Body Systems/Autopsy

Key Structures: Skin, Hair, Nails Function: Forms the body's external covering; protects deeper tissue from injury; helps regulate body temperature

Key Structures: Bones, Joints Function: Protects and supports body organs; provides a framework the muscles can use to cause movement; stores minerals

Key Structures: Skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle Function: Moves the body and moves substances around the body; maintains posture; produces heat

Key Structures: Brain, Spinal Cord, Sensory Receptors, Nerves, Brain Stem, Ear, Eye, Olfactory Glands, Taste Buds Function: Responds to internal and external changes by activating an appropriate response; processes information

Key Structures: Heart, Veins, Capillaries, Aorta, Arteries, Arterioles, Artium, Blood, Superior Vena Cava, Ventricle, Venules Function: Pumps blood around body; transports oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, waste,and hormones

Key Structures: Lungs, Nasal Cavity, Trachea, Bronchial Tubes, Alveoli, Larynx, Epiglottis, Pharynx Function: Assists with gas exchange with the external environment; keeps blood supplied with oxygen and removes carbon dioxide

Key Structures: Lymph Nodes, Spleen, Thymus, Bone Marrow, B Cells, Skin, T Cells, Phagocytes, Tonsil, Appendix Function: Filters fluid in the body; mounts the attack against foreign substances in the body

Key Structures: Oral Cavity, Esophagus, Stomach, Small and Large Intestine, Liver, Colon, Gall Bladder, Pancreas, Pharynx, Tongue, Salivary Glands, Teeth, Anus Function: Breaks down food into nutrient molecules; rids the boy of waste

Key Structures: Kidney, Bladder, Ureter, Urethra Function: Eliminates waste from the body; regulates water balance of the blood

Key Structures: Adrenal Gland, Pituitary Gland, Ovary, Testis, Thyroid Gland, Pineal Gland, Hypothalamus Function: Secretes hormones that regulate processes such as growth, reproduction, and metabolism by body cells

One example of two body systems working together is the skeletal and muscular systems working together to help maintain homeostasis and provide body support. They work separately and together to provide support, organ protection, mobility, and warmth. Together, they function as the muscoskeletal system.

Autopsies are an examination of a body after death to determine the cause of death or the extent of disease. They are performed to provide a medical explanation about a death. Usually, they are performed when someone dies suddenly while in good health or at request of family. One example of when an autopsy is performed would be on a murder victim. They would do this to look for signs of death or the murder method. (bullet wounds, poison, strangulation). Another case in which a autopsy would be performed is when someone dies suddenly or surprisingly without any known cause. They would perform an autopsy in order to determine why they died and what caused them to die so suddenly.

Autopsies are required in these cases because the actual cause and manner of death must be determined and they must verify that no foul play was involved. When the cause and manner of death cannot be determined at the crime scene, then an autopsy is ordered. An autopsy may be done in these cases in order to ensure that it was the accident that killed them, not another person or pre-existing medical conditions. Also, if there are no witnesses, there will be no solid information on how they died.

Some additional information needed to determine Anna's death would be a list of any pre-existing medical/health issues, a report from the hospital she was at for back pain, and we need to know what she injected in her thigh. Also, it would be helpful to have a full autopsy report, past medical records, and a summary of internal body findings.

An autopsy includes an examination of all body systems because the suspected cause of death may be inaccurate. You must analyze everything in case there is a medical issue somewhere else in the body that could have contributed to the death. A toxicology report would be performed in the automobile accident because alcohol could have been the reason they crashed. They may have been drunk and in result they crashed which caused the head trauma. They must look at everything to get the full story of the death.

There are many factors that caused or led to death; it could have been an internal issue and it may or may not have been previously diagnosed; the victim could have been dead for awhile, so the body will be more decomposed, therefore harder to accurately examine; it may not be a visible cause of death and there may be no other medical information to fall back on; the condition of the body may be poor (possibly due to manner or cause of death)

Homicide, Natural, Accident

Manner of death is the way/how the death occurred and the cause of death is thought of in terms of underlying or immediate cause of death.

External examination, internal examination, run tests on body

Bone saw- cut through bones and skull Rib cutters- special shears to cut through ribs Toothed forceps- used to pick up heavy organs Scalpel- large blade for making long deep cuts or scraping tissues

Lividity, rigor, gastric contents, vitreous humor, cloudiness of corneas

HIPAA is a set of standards/rules that protect a patient's privacy. They promise not to give out your personal health information without a) your consent, b) not immediately to parents w/o consent if you are 18 or older, or c) any people/medical personnel unless they are directly involved in your care.

Autopsy is when you exhume the body and look at the body from the inside out, take out the organs, check the heart, lungs, and other major body parts. This is usually the time when most blood, urine, and any type of test can be done to the body for evidence. Autopsy can determine the cause of death because, you get to have a more thorough look and examination of the body. What investigators see on the outside, and the evidences around the body at the crime scene, only tells half of the story, not the full story. To fully understand why somebody dies, one must look beyond what the human eye can see on the outside. Autopsy helps determine the science, physics, and chemistry, of what happened inside the body during the death, which is the only way to fully comprehend how/what the cause of death was.

Yes. It can be broken if the patient is a harm/threatening harm to themselves or others or when they have a warrant or in a federal investigation.