Necremia

NECREMIA (from Greek nekros - dead and haima - blood), the loss of blood's vital properties. It is observed not only postmortem but also during life. Thus, in a corpse, on the side of erythrocytes, a gradually occurring hemolysis is observed, while leukocytes lose their granularity, vacuoles and fat granules appear in them, the nuclei of polymorphonuclear leukocytes become rounded, so that the granular forms of leukocytes from a morphological standpoint approach the non-granular ones, and mature forms approach less mature ones. It is possible that the frequently observed 'atypical shifts to the left' in corpses represent to a certain extent the beginning of N., and not rejuvenation in the proper sense of the word. The final moment of postmortem N. is the disintegration of nuclei and protoplasm, mainly phenomena of karyolysis and plasmolysis. Platelets in N. may initially take the form of small lymphocytes, later they dissolve. During life, N. can be observed in areas of gangrene of various parts of the body, in burns, frostbite, and in so-called necrotizing inflammation (usually together with necrosis of the vascular wall).