Deputy Coroner Investigator Practice Exam

Tardieu spots are tiny hemorrhages that form on serous surfaces in asphyxial deaths, specifically subpleural and subpericardial petechiae or ecchymoses caused by the dramatic rise in intrathoracic venous pressure during strangulation or suffocation. They reflect capillary rupture from that pressure surge and are a characteristic, though not exclusive, indicator of asphyxia when seen with other signs.

The other options don’t describe this finding: a tache noire refers to a different postmortem sign, while the spleen is an organ, and a Stryker Saw is an autopsy tool, not a sign observed on the body.