Post-mortem immersion
Definition
Placement of a body in water after death. Passive water entry into the upper airways and body cavities can carry diatoms into the trachea and proximal bronchi but does not produce hematogenous spread to bone marrow and remote organs, which is the key distinction the test exploits.
Related terms
- Acid digestion
- A laboratory preparation step in which concentrated mineral acids are used to destroy all organic tissue in a sample, leaving only acid-resistant...
- Ante-mortem drowning
- Drowning that occurs while the victim is still alive and the cardiopulmonary system is functioning. Active breathing and circulation are prerequisites for...
- Bone marrow
- The fatty and haematopoietic tissue inside long bones such as the femur and tibia. Because it is enclosed in dense cortical bone,...
- Control sample
- A water sample collected from the suspected drowning environment at or shortly after the time of body recovery. Its diatom assemblage is...
- Hematogenous dissemination
- Spread of a substance via the bloodstream. In the diatom test, diatoms aspirated into the lungs during ante-mortem drowning enter pulmonary capillaries...
Explained in
- The Diatom Test in Drowning InvestigationPlacement of a body in water after death. Passive water entry into the upper airways and body cavities can carry diatoms into the trachea and proximal bronchi...