Death

Definition
Irreversible loss of the overall organization of the organism (Shikl) - irreversible, irreversible arrest of all functions of the organism.
 * Death is usually caused by a violation of one of the control systems (atria mortis – heart, lungs, brain).
 * At the time of death, the tissues are morphologically unchanged, but gradually the physical and chemical potentials that cause postmortem (cadaverous) changes in the tissue occur.

Division

 * 1) Clinical – respiratory and circulatory arrest, CNS still functioning.
 * 2) Biological – respiratory and circulatory arrest, irreversible damage to the CNS.

Signs of death
Since dying is a process of varying length, death may not be distinct and easily distinguishable from apparent death (vita minima). A number of signs are used to recognize death.

Uncertain signs of death
Uncertain signs of death are those signs which, although common in the dead, may also occur in the living. In general, the presence of uncertain signs of death makes death probable, but not certain. These include in particular:
 * paleness
 * coldness
 * inconclusiveness of pulse activity
 * inaudible heartbeat
 * inaudible breathing
 * muscle weakness
 * areflexion
 * Tonelli's sign (disappears again 1-2 hours after death)

Certain signs of death
Certain signs of death are those signs whose presence clearly means death. These include in particular:
 * posthumous scars (livores mortis)
 * postmortem stiffness (rigor mortis)
 * putrid changes

Certain signs of death include the results of diagnostic tests:
 * isoelectric line on ECG
 * proof of brain death by radionuclide methods - absence of radiopharmaceutical accumulation in the brain
 * angiographic - cerebral vessels above C1 are not filled
 * EEG evidence of brain death

Externí odkazy

 * Rozhodování na konci života z pohledu sestry – interaktivní algoritmus + test
 * Smrt (česká wikipedie)
 * Death (anglická wikipedie)

related articles

 * Postmortem changes

Source

 * PASTOR, Jan. Langenbeck's medical web page [online]. [cit. 2009]. .