Asphyxia
Definition
Mode of death due to interference with respiration and tissue oxygenation. Subtypes are anoxic, anaemic, stagnant and histotoxic.
- Category
- Mode of death
- Cause
- Interference with respiration or tissue oxygenation
- Subtypes
- Anoxic, anaemic, stagnant, histotoxic
Common questions
How do the four asphyxia subtypes differ from each other?+
Anoxic asphyxia involves inadequate oxygen reaching the blood, anaemic involves the blood's reduced capacity to carry oxygen, stagnant involves inadequate circulation despite normal oxygen and carrying capacity, and histotoxic involves tissues unable to use the oxygen delivered to them, as in cyanide poisoning.
Why is asphyxia classified as a mode of death rather than a manner of death?+
Mode of death describes the physiological mechanism, here failure of oxygenation, while manner of death addresses the circumstances such as natural, accident, suicide, or homicide; a single manner of death, like hanging, can produce asphyxia as its mode through more than one physiological pathway.
Related terms
- Brain Death (Brainstem Death)
- Irreversible cessation of all functions of the brainstem. Recognised in Indian law under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994...
- Cause of Death
- The disease or injury directly responsible for death. Recorded by the pathologist on the death certificate, it is distinct from manner of...
- Coma
- Mode of death due to failure of the brain (cerebral function). The patient is unconscious, unresponsive, with depressed or absent reflexes.
- Death
- Permanent and irreversible cessation of the vital functions of the body. Traditionally tested by stoppage of heart, lungs and brain; modern practice...
- Inquest
- Legal enquiry into the cause and circumstances of a sudden, suspicious or unnatural death. In India conducted by the police under BNSS...
- Manner of Death
- The circumstantial classification of a death using the NAME five-category scheme (natural, accident, suicide, homicide, undetermined), or the jurisdiction-specific equivalent, recorded separately...
- Mechanism of Death
- The physiological derangement through which the cause of death produced the dying process. Examples include exsanguination, asphyxia, sepsis, and cardiac arrhythmia. Multiple...
- Somatic (Clinical) Death
- Cessation of integrated functions of the body as a whole, marked by stoppage of heart, respiration and central nervous system activity. Cellular...
- Syncope
- Mode of death due to sudden failure of cardiac function leading to inadequate cerebral perfusion. Often vasovagal, cardiac arrhythmic, or haemorrhagic in...