What is the post-mortem response of the body to heat, characterized by contraction of muscles?

What is the post-mortem response of the body to heat, characterized by contraction of muscles?

• A. Pugilistic Posture
• B. Tissue Tetanus
• C. Rigor Mortis
• D. Cadaveric Spasm

Answer: (A)

When a body is exposed to heat, the muscles can contract and shorten, pulling the joints into flexed positions. This creates the characteristic pugilistic posture, the boxer's stance seen in corpses subjected to intense heat. This heat-induced contraction is different from rigor mortis, which is a gradual, postmortem stiffening caused by chemical changes after death and occurs regardless of heat. Cadaveric spasm is an instantaneous stiffening at death, not a delayed heat effect. So the described muscle contraction in a heat-exposed body fits the pugilistic posture.

When a body is exposed to heat, the muscles can contract and shorten, pulling the joints into flexed positions. This creates the characteristic pugilistic posture, the boxer's stance seen in corpses subjected to intense heat. This heat-induced contraction is different from rigor mortis, which is a gradual, postmortem stiffening caused by chemical changes after death and occurs regardless of heat. Cadaveric spasm is an instantaneous stiffening at death, not a delayed heat effect. So the described muscle contraction in a heat-exposed body fits the pugilistic posture.