livor mortis

livor

 [li´vor]

discoloration.

livor mor´tis discoloration on dependent parts of the body after death.

Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

postmortem hypostasis

The red-purple colouring of the skin surface which appears on dependent body parts after circulation has ceased and gravity pulls the now-stagnant blood to the lowest points of the body. The dark red-purple background may be punctuated with whitish areas, corresponding to areas on which the body was resting at the time of death, which compress the blood vessels and prevent hypostasis in those areas. Postmortem hypostasis is due to the formation of oxyhaemoglobin at the expense of reduced haemoglobin.

DiffDx
Bruises rarely cover the large areas covered by hypostasis, which often have horizontal margins and bloodless zones due to tight clothing. Bruises may be accompanied by abrasions, often have discoid contours, or irregular margins, and lack bloodless zones. With time, distinguishing the two becomes impossible.

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

livor mortis

Postmortem lividity A blanchable discoloration of the skin–pink, early, purple, due to the settling of blood in the most dependent tissues; with time, the discoloration becomes fixed. See Rigor mortis.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.