Coma
Definition
Mode of death due to failure of the brain (cerebral function). The patient is unconscious, unresponsive, with depressed or absent reflexes.
- Field
- Forensic thanatology, modes of death
- Mode of death category
- Coma (cerebral failure)
- Clinical picture
- Unconscious, unresponsive
- Reflex status
- Depressed or absent
Common questions
How does coma as a mode of death differ from the manner of death?+
Mode of death describes the physiological pathway by which the body fails, here cerebral failure, while manner of death is the medicolegal classification (natural, accident, suicide, homicide, undetermined); coma explains how the brain stopped functioning, not why or under what circumstances.
What kinds of underlying causes can lead to coma as the terminal mode of death?+
Severe traumatic brain injury, stroke, prolonged hypoxia, poisoning, and metabolic derangements can each progress to coma before death, so identifying coma as the mode still requires further investigation to establish the specific underlying cause.
Related terms
- Asphyxia
- Mode of death due to interference with respiration and tissue oxygenation. Subtypes are anoxic, anaemic, stagnant and histotoxic.
- 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...
- 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...