Question

What would be the approximate PMI of a corpse whose body temperature is determined to be 26.3°C? Average body temperature is 37.2*C.
PLEASE QUICKLY

Answer 1

Determining the time of death is both an art and a science and requires that the medical examiner use several techniques and observations to make his estimate. As a general rule, the sooner after death the body is examined, the more accurate this estimate will be.

Unfortunately, the changes that a body undergoes after death occur in widely variable ways and with unpredictable time frames. There is no single factor that will accurately indicate the time of physiological death. It is always a best guess. But when the principles are properly applied, the medical examiner can often estimate the physiologic time of death with some degree of accuracy.

One way we can estimate time of death is by measuring the body temperature. Average body temperate is 32.7c or 98.6 Fahrenheit .The current formula for heat loss is a loss of 1.5 degree per hour.


Hours since death = 98.6 – corpse core temperature / 1.5
(26.3 Celsius converted to Fahrenheit= 79.34 F)

98.6 F - 79.34 F / 1.5 = 45.7 hours since death