Cause of Death?

[Arctickat]

My thought was that without muscular control following death the vessels would dilate leaving the valves ineffective, but the arteries would function similarly since there is no blood flow, so he was half right. The carotids could be "kinked" as well as the Jugs.

[fab]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most veins ending in the superior vena cava lack the valves. Anyways, it makes sense what some have posted earlier, blood flow through the carotids was still possible while the way back through the jugular veins was blocked due to the postition of the head. Who says he dropped dead immediately?

[Arctickat]

You're not wrong fab, in fact, IIRC, there are no valves superior to the heart because there is no risk of backflow as there is in the limbs. Scratrat confused me there for a bit with his post. I just remembered that little tidbit this morning.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Arctickat

[DwayneEMTP]

The same amount of pressure could have consticted both the veins and arteries delivering this same symptom, or so it seems to me. As there should be a given constriction pressure that is high enough to constict the low pressure vascular side yet allow tons of blood via the high pressure arterial side. This should make a big, fat, black face, shouldn't it? But as Fab said this would have made it necessary for him to be alive for at least a short time after constriction, and that's pretty easy to believe, right?

I'm sure that this explanation is correct.

'Cause I say so....

Where is chbare to tell us all bout valves and pressures and such?

And Fab, a new member with an opinion on a medical topic? What the hell?? (That doesn't happen here nearly often enough.) Thanks for playing Brother...

[P_Instructor]

Just being the smartass here........cause of death.........the heart stopped beating. Reasons to be announced later.

[Curiosity]

I was reading an article today and it quickly mentioned valves in the jugulars. I did some research and it would appear that both the EJ and the IJ have valves at the superior vena cava, the EJ has some more scattered along its length and the IJ has one more near the top. I read they are there to prevent back flow created when coughing, bearing down etc...

I didn't think there we're any in the upper extremities either.

[Arctickat]

Yeah, but Gray's Anatomy indicates that the valves do not prevent regurgitation of the blood.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/gray/subjects/subject/168

[DwayneEMTP]

I've nothing to add except to say that that is why I love these threads...when was the last time any of us considered these question...fun, right?

Thanks for staying with it guys. I've not lost interest, just any type of internet access that allows research...

[wlittle]

Let me muddy the water a little more. I've seen the dark / black skin in patients that were still viable. The reason, at least in the cases I've seen was the result of years of smoking which compromised circulation. The only problem is the dark / black skin usually is seen in the digits such as fingers or toes.

[medicgirl05]

I have seen circulatory compromise in the digits and sometimes extremities in patients nearing death...it is actually pretty common. I just found the BLACK color strange on the face.

I can assure you that this patient was very much not viable...

I welcome muddy water...always room for learning!