Livor Mortis (Hypostasis)
Definition
Bluish-purple settling of blood in dependent parts. Begins 30 minutes to 2 hours, fixed by 8 to 12 hours.
- Appearance
- Bluish-purple settling in dependent tissue
- Onset
- 30 minutes to 2 hours after death
- Fixation
- 8 to 12 hours after death
- Cause
- Gravity-driven settling of blood once circulation stops
Common questions
What does it mean for lividity to be fixed?+
Once fixed, the pattern no longer blanches under pressure or shifts if the body is repositioned, so its location can indicate the body's position was not changed after that point.
Can livor mortis show that a body was moved after death?+
Yes. Lividity found inconsistent with the position the body was discovered in, such as a pattern on the back when the body is found face-down, suggests it was repositioned before the pattern fixed.
Related terms
- Adipocere
- A waxy, soap-like substance formed by saponification of body fat under anaerobic, wet, cool-to-moderate conditions. Replaces unsaturated fatty acids with saturated palmitic...
- Algor Mortis
- Postmortem cooling of the body toward ambient temperature, approximately 1-1.5 degrees Celsius per hour under average conditions. Used alongside other postmortem changes...
- Autopsy
- Systematic external and internal examination of a dead body to find cause, manner and time of death. Ordered under BNSS 2023 Section...
- Cadaveric Spasm
- Instantaneous rigor without a flaccid phase, locking the muscle group active at death (clutched weapon, grass).
- Decomposition
- Autolysis (intracellular enzymes) plus putrefaction (bacterial breakdown). Greenish discoloration starts over the right iliac fossa.
- Henssge Nomogram
- A graphical method using rectal temperature, ambient temperature and body weight to estimate PMI within a 95 percent confidence interval, with correction...
- Marbling
- Greenish-black branching pattern over superficial veins from haemoglobin plus H2S. 24 to 48 hour sign.
- Mummification
- Preservation of the body by desiccation rather than liquefaction, occurring when surface evaporation rate exceeds the rate of putrefaction gas production. Common...
- Post-Mortem Interval (PMI)
- The time elapsed between death and discovery or examination of remains. PMI estimation draws on multiple disciplines: soft tissue decomposition stage, insect...
- Putrefaction
- Decomposition of tissues by microorganisms, principally anaerobic bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract. Products include hydrogen sulphide, methane, ammonia, and putrescine, which cause...
- Rigor Mortis
- The post-mortem stiffening of muscle from ATP depletion and actin-myosin cross-linking. Develops over hours, peaks, and resolves with putrefaction.