Autopsy: No sign Schiavo was abused
(This report puts this issue to rest...)
Findings show woman's brain 'profoundly atrophied'
Wednesday, June 15, 2005 Posted: 6:55 PM EDT (2255 GMT)
LARGO, Florida (CNN) -- The autopsy of Terri Schiavo found no evidence that the severely brain-damaged woman was strangled or abused and that no amount of therapy would have reversed her condition, a medical examiner said Wednesday.
Schiavo's brain was damaged in 1990 after she collapsed and suffered heart failure.
He said his examination turned up no sign of abuse or trauma -- allegations leveled by Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, against her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo.
A report from a neuropathologist who served as a consultant to the autopsy said Schiavo's brain was "grossly abnormal and weighed only 615 grams [1.35 pounds]."
That weight is less than half that expected for a woman of her age, said the report written by Dr. Stephen J. Nelson.
'Irreversible' brain damage
Schiavo's brain damage "was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons," Thogmartin said.
"Her brain was profoundly atrophied," he said.
The vision centers of her brain were dead, he said.
cnn.com |
