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1. The objectives of a medicolegal autopsy include:

(a) Identification of the victim
(b) Determine time since death
(c) Determine the cause of death
(d) Identify the accused

Code :

  1. (c) and (d) are correct.
  2. (b), (c) and (d) are correct.
  3. (a), (b) and (c) are correct.
  4. (a) and (d) are correct.

Answer: (3) (a), (b) and (c) are correct

2. Assertion (A): Forensic taphonomy is the study of the history of the body after death.

Reason (R): Forensic taphonomy includes study of weathering of bones, scavenging disarticulation, transport of dead bodies, etc. helping understand the circumstances in which death occurred.

  1. Both (A) and (R) are correct
  2. Both (A) and (R) are incorrect
  3. (A) is correct but (R) is incorrect
  4. (R) is correct but (A)  is incorrect

Answer: (1) Both (A) and (R) are correct

Explanation:
-> Forensic taphonomy is the study of the postmortem changes to human remains with respect to environmental effects.
-> Forensic taphonomy includes studying the decomposition of the human body in soil and water, and its interaction with plants, insects, and other animals.

3. In which year was the Coroner’s Act, 1871 replaced in India?

  1. 1997
  2. 1998
  3. 1999
  4. 2000

Answer: (3) 1999

Explanation: Presently, there is no coroner system in India.
-> It was abolished in 1999 when the Coroner’s Act was repealed.
-> The last city in India to have a coroner system was Bombay (Mumbai).

4. In roadside vehicular accidents police bring the body of the victim for autopsy. The type of autopsy performed is

  1. Clinical autopsy
  2. Medicolegal autopsy
  3. Anatomical autopsy
  4. All of the above are same

Answer: (2) Medicolegal autopsy

Explanation:
-> Clinical/ Pathological Autopsy requires relative permission majorly for diagnosis and treatment.
-> Medicolegal Autopsy requires the permission of legal authority, not the relatives, and is performed for justice.
-> Anatomical (Academic autopsies) are performed by students of anatomy for study purposes only.

5. Who among the following is authorized to opine on the cause of death?

  1. General Surgeon
  2. Medicolegal Expert
  3. Anthropologists
  4. Radiologist

Answer: (2) Medicolegal Expert

6. Beneke’s technique is used during post-mortem to

  1. Remove heart from infants
  2. Open skull in infants
  3. Remove enlarged prostate gland
  4. Open the body from back

Answer: (2) Open skull in infants

Explanation: With blunt scissors, cut the cranium and dura on both sides of the skull, beginning at the lateral edge of the anterior fontanelle and extending the incisions along the midline and lateral sides of the skull. (Source)

There are two techniques to open the skull of the infants:
(1) Beneke’s technique: open skull in 2 flaps
(2) Baar’s technique: opens skull in 4 flaps (butterfly manner)
-> Reference: Anil Aggrawal books of Essential of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Pg 88.

7. The term “VIRTOPSY” is used for

  1. Use of computed tomography in autopsy
  2. Use of dactylography in autopsy
  3. Use of virtual reality in autopsy
  4. Use of infrared rays in conducting autopsy

Answer: (1) Use of computed tomography in autopsy

Explanation:
-> Virtual autopsy is referred to as Radiological autopsy or Virtopsy.
-> It is a type of autopsy in which radiological means such as multislice computed tomography (CT) scans or MRI is used to diagnose lesions.
-> A type of non-invasive autopsy, because of the non-opening of the bodies.

8. Assertion A: The Iodine silver plate transfer method was considered to be a practical technique for the recovery of latent fingerprints on the skin in the past.

Reason R: Skin area suspected to contain latent fingerprints is first fumed with an iodine fuming gun. Once the latent print image is developed, then the image is transferred onto a silver plate exposed to strong light and evaluated.

  1. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
  2. Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A
  3. A is true but R is false
  4. A is false but R is true

Answer: (1) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

9. Features of antemortem burns include:

(i) Cherry red color of blood
(ii) Pugilistic attitude
(iii) Singeing of hair
(iv) Soot in air ways

Codes:

  1. (i), (ii), (iv) are correct
  2. (ii), (iii), (iv) are correct
  3. (i), (iv) are correct
  4. (ii), (iii) are correct

Answer: (3) (i), (iv) are correct

Explanation: Antemortem burns are characterized by two characteristics signs:
1. Cherry red color evident that the carboxyhemoglobin levels above 30% in the blood.
2. Soot in airways shows the person is breathing before the burn.
-> Pugilistic attitude is a condition where the body tissues and muscles dehydrate and shrink due to heating. Though it is common in burning but can’t be an identifiable sign of antemortem burn.

10. Image of body organs can be obtained by which of the following instruments?

  1. AAS
  2. Polarizing Microscope
  3. Fluorescent Microscope
  4. NMR

Answer: (4) NMR

Explanation: With NMR spectroscopy, information such as molecular interaction and their mobility in complex systems in intact organs, isolated cells, and body fluids can be obtained.
Reference: NMR in Physiology and Biomedicine | ScienceDirect

11. The presence of black particles in the airways is suggestive of

  1. Chronic smoker
  2. Melanoma of airways
  3. Inhalation of smoke
  4. None of the above

Answer: (3) Inhalation of smoke

12. Chronological order of post-mortem changes after death is

  1. Loss of reflexes, foul smell, adipocere, and hypostasis
  2. Loss of reflexes, hypostasis, foul smell, and adipocere
  3. Adipocere, foul smell, hypostasis and loss of reflexes
  4. Foul smell, loss of reflexes, adipocere, and hypostasis

Answer: (2) Loss of reflexes, hypostasis, foul smell, and adipocere

Explanation: After death, loss of reflexes is seen followed by the accumulation of blood and fluid in the lower part of the body called Hypostasis. After that, the body starts producing fouling smell because of enzyme actions, and lastly, the adipocere occurs.

13. Arrange the changes that appear in a Cadaver in sequential order :

  1. Cooling, Rigor, Marbling, Mummification.
  2. Rigor, Cooling, Marbling, Mummification.
  3. Rigor, Marbling, Cooling, Mummification.
  4. Cooling, Rigor, Mummification, Marbling.

Answer: (1) Cooling, Rigor, Marbling, Mummification.

Explanation:
-> Cooling (algor mortis) is seen because the body freezes to produce more energy to regulate the 98.6°F temperature.
-> Rigor Mortis starts in 1–2 h after death, takes about 9–12 h to develop, and persists 12 h and takes 12 h to pass off.
-> Marbling: In summers, ‘marbling’ is seen 36–48 h after death.
-> Mummification is the dehydration of the dead body and it takes 6 months to 12 months to mummify.

14. The sequence of post-mortem changes in a cadaver includes

  1. Rigor mortis, primary flaccidity, secondary flaccidity, marbling
  2. Primary flaccidity, secondary flaccidity, rigor mortis, marbling
  3. Marbling, secondary flaccidity, primary flaccidity, rigor mortis
  4. Primary flaccidity, rigor mortis, secondary flaccidity, marbling

Answer: (4) Primary flaccidity, rigor mortis, secondary flaccidity, marbling

Explanation:
-> Primary flaccidity: This occurs directly after death when all of the muscles in a person’s body relax.
-> Rigor Mortis: Stiffening of the body muscles due to chemical changes in the muscle myofibrils.
-> Secondary flaccidity: After reaching a state of maximum rigor mortis, muscles become soft & flaccid, but don’t respond to mechanical or electrical stimuli and occur over a period of one to three days.
-> Marbling: It is the linear branching pattern like a ‘marbled’ road map of blood vessels that are due to the decomposition of hemoglobin to sulf methemoglobin which imparts greenish or reddish-brown staining of the superficial blood vessels.

15. Arrange the following post-mortem changes in ascending order:

(i) Cooling of the body  (ii) Greenish discoloration of abdomen   (iii)  Rigor mortis  (iv) Marbling

Code:

  1. (i), (iii), (ii), (iv)
  2. (ii), (iv), (i), (iii)
  3. (iv), (iii), (ii), (i)
  4. (i), (ii), (iii) (iv) 

Answer: (1) (i), (iii), (ii), (iv)

Explanation:
-> Cooling of the body: The body fails to produce additional energy to maintain body temperature.
-> Rigor Mortis: Stiffening of the body muscles due to chemical changes in the muscle myofibrils.
-> Greenish discoloration of the abdomen: External sign of body decomposition.
-> Marbling: It is the linear branching pattern like a ‘marbled’ road map of blood vessels that is due to the decomposition of hemoglobin to sulf methemoglobin which imparts greenish or reddish-brown staining of the superficial blood vessels.

16. The term “Inborn errors of metabolism” was coined by

  1. Charles Darwin
  2. Francis Galton
  3. Alfred Russell Wallace
  4. A.E. Garrod

Answer: (4) A.E. Garrod

Explanation:
-> Inborn errors of metabolism: rare genetic (inherited) disorders in which the body cannot properly turn food into energy.
-> This can be diagnosed by metabolic studies and nucleic acid analysis from tissues of the liver, kidney, cardiac and skeletal muscles, and peripheral nerve.
-> Tissues should be frozen in liquid nitrogen or dry ice and stored at –70°C.

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