Terri Schiavo case

===Autopsy===
Schiavo's body was taken to the Office of the District 6 Medical Examiner for Pinellas and Pasco counties, based in Largo, Florida. The [[autopsy]] was conducted on April 1, 2005, and revealed extensive brain damage. The manner of death was certified as "undetermined." The autopsy was led by Chief Medical Examiner Jon R. Thogmartin. In addition to consultation with a neuropathologist (Stephen J. Nelson), Thogmartin also arranged for specialized cardiac and genetic examinations to be made. The official autopsy report<ref name="thogmartin" /> was released on June 15, 2005. In addition to studying Terri Schiavo's remains, Thogmartin scoured court, medical and other records and interviewed her family members, doctors and other relevant parties. Examination of Schiavo's nervous system by neuropathologist Stephen J. Nelson, revealed extensive injury. The [[human brain|brain]] itself weighed only {{convert|615|g|abbr=on}}, only half the weight expected for a female of her age, height, and weight, due to the loss of a massive number of neurons. Microscopic examination revealed extensive damage to nearly all [[List of regions in the human brain|brain regions]], including the [[cerebral cortex]], the [[thalamus]], the [[basal ganglia]], the [[hippocampus]], the [[cerebellum]], and the [[midbrain]]. The neuropathologic changes in her brain were precisely of the type seen in patients who enter a PVS following cardiac arrest. Throughout the cerebral cortex, the large pyramidal [[Betz cell|neurons]] that comprise some 70% of cortical cells – critical to the functioning of the cortex – were completely lost. The pattern of damage to the cortex, with injury tending to worsen from the front of the cortex to the back, was also typical. There was marked damage to important relay circuits deep in the brain (the thalamus) – another common pathologic finding in cases of PVS. The damage was, in the words of Thogmartin, "irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/15/schiavo.autopsy|title=Autopsy: No sign Schiavo was abused: Findings show woman's brain 'profoundly atrophied'|website=CNN|date=June 7, 2005|access-date=May 3, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060421071228/http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/15/schiavo.autopsy/|archive-date=April 21, 2006|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The cardiac pathologist who studied Schiavo's heart found it and the [[coronary circulation|coronary vessels]] to be healthy, which excludes the possibility that her initial collapse was the result of [[myocardial infarction]], although there was a localized area of healed inflammation (opening the possibility of [[myocarditis]]). Thogmartin found that "there was no proof that Terri Schiavo ever had an eating disorder such as bulimia." Regarding the possibility of strangulation or domestic violence as a cause of Schiavo's initial collapse, the report states: "No trauma was noted on any of the numerous physical exams or radiographs performed on Mrs. Schiavo on the day of, in the days after, or in the months after her initial collapse. Indeed, within an hour of her initial hospital admission, radiographic examination of her cervical spine was negative. Specifically, external signs of strangulation including cutaneous or deep neck injury, facial/conjunctival petechiae, and other blunt trauma were not observed or recorded during her initial hospital admission. Autopsy examination of her neck structures 15 years after her initial collapse did not detect any signs of remote trauma, but, with such a delay, the exam was unlikely to show any residual neck findings."<ref name="thogmartin" />

Regarding the cause and manner of Schiavo's death, Thogmartin wrote, "Mrs. Schiavo suffered severe anoxic brain injury. The cause of which cannot be determined with reasonable medical certainty. The manner of death will therefore be certified as undetermined."<ref name="thogmartin" />