__NOTOC__

Postmortem interval changes (stages of death)

Pallor mortis (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ''pallor'' "paleness", ''mortis'' "of death"), the first stage of death, is an after-death paleness that occurs in those with light/white skin. An opto-electronical colour measurement device is used to measure pallor mortis on bodies.

Timing and applicability

Pallor mortis occurs almost immediately, generally within 15–25 minutes, after death. Paleness develops so rapidly after death that it has little to no use in determining the time of death, aside from saying that it either happened less than 30 minutes ago or more, which could help if the body were found very soon after death.

Cause

Pallor mortis results from the collapse of

capillary A capillary is a small blood vessel from 5 to 10 micrometres (μm) in diameter. Capillaries are composed of only the tunica intima, consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. They are the smallest blood vessels in the bod ...

circulation throughout the body.

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

then causes the blood to sink down into the lower parts of the body, creating livor mortis.

Similar paleness in living persons

A living person can look deathly pale, with such paleness often likened to death in figurative speech and in fiction. This can happen when blood escapes from the surface of the skin, in a matter of deep shock. Also

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

(''insufficientia cordis'') can make the face appear pale; the person then might have

blue lips ''Blue Lips'' is the third studio album by Swedish singer Tove Lo. It was released on 17 November 2017 by Island Records. ''Blue Lips'' is considered the second half of a two-piece concept album that describe "highs, lows and ultimate demise of ...

. Skin can also become pale as a result of

vasoconstriction Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels, in particular the large arteries and small arterioles. The process is the opposite of vasodilation, the widening of blood vess ...

as part of the body's

homeostatic In biology, homeostasis (British also homoeostasis) (/hɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/) is the state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by living systems. This is the condition of optimal functioning for the organism an ...

systems in cold conditions, or if the skin is deficient in

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of Lipophilicity, fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group ar ...

, as seen in people who spend most of the time indoors, away from

sunlight Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when ...

References

Signs of death Latin medical words and phrases Forensic pathology {{Latin-vocab-stub