Estimation of Time Since Death From Histology of Liver

Abstract

Estimation of time since death is a fundamental problem in medico-legal investigation because it helps in predicting the approximate time of offence. Time since death can be made out from various postmortem changes like rigor mortis, algor mortis, livor mortis, decomposition etc. In the present study histological changes in the liver tissue are studied at various postmortem intervals amongst medico legal autopsies conducted at our institute. Materials for the present study are liver taken directly from the dead bodies during postmortem examination. Only the cases where the time of death is known and verified either by the doctor's notes or by relatives & friends present at the time of death & also supported by the postmortem changes have been taken for the study. In this study the degenerative changes in liver progresses sequentially as the time since death increases up to 24 hrs post mortem. After 24hrs, there are no significant changes seen microscopically to determine post mortem interval.