Dark coagula so often found after death are polypi

Dark coagula so often found after death are polypi

Dark coagula so often found after death are polypi

Pathology. When a coagulum is observed in the heart it may become a question whether it was formed during life or after death. The loose, dark coagula so often found after death are polypi. If the deposition has taken place during the last moments of life, the fibrin will be isolated and soft, but not adherent to the walls; if it be isolated, dense, and adherent or closely intertwined with the muscles of the papillae and tendinous cords, the deposition has occurred more or less remote from the act of dying. Occasionally the fibrin may be seen lining one of the cavities of the heart, like a false endocardium, or else forming an additional coat to the aorta or other large vessels without producing much obstruction. Thrombi, in some instances, soften in their centers, and are then observed to contain a puslike substance. If this softening has extended considerably, an outer shell, or cyst, only may remain. The sources of danger exist not only in the interruption of the circulation of the blood, but also in a morbid state of the system, produced by the disturbed nutrition of a limb or organ, as well as the mingling of purulent and gangrenous elements with the blood.