LARGO, Fla. — Her brain half the size of a normal brain, Terri Schiavo was blind and in a persistent vegetative state from which she could not recover, medical examiners said Wednesday.
For her husband, Michael, the 38-page autopsy report was a vindication. For her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who fervently believed that their daughter could see and respond to them, the report did not shake that belief.
The report also showed that the 41-year old woman had never been abused or strangled — apparently refuting allegations by Schindler supporters that Michael had abused Terri. And medical examiners said they could find no evidence of an eating disorder or drug abuse, which some believed may have caused her to collapse 15 years ago.
While the unflinching science of the report concurs with the medical diagnosis of her condition before she died, indicating that she was never aware of her surroundings or the national debate her plight stirred, it hasn't ended the debate.
"No details of this autopsy change the moral evaluation of what happened to Terri. Her physical injuries and disabilities never made her less of a person. No amount of brain injury ever justifies denying a person proper humane care," said Father Frank Pavone, one of the Catholic priests who supported her parents in their vigil outside the hospice where she died.
But Michael Schiavo was "pleased" that the autopsy results proved what he had been saying all along, and he plans to release autopsy photos of his wife's brain, said his attorney, George Felos, who would not say how or to whom they will be released.
"He feels it is extremely important for everyone to see what is apparent from these photographs," Felos said.
Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin said he and his medical team had concluded that nothing was done to physically harm Schiavo, but he regretted they had not been able to determine what caused her to collapse in the first place.
They found no conclusive evidence, he said, of why a woman everyone believed was healthy suddenly collapsed with a failing heart, starving her brain of oxygen and blood.
"This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons," said Thogmartin.
Schiavo's brain weighed 615 grams — less than 1.5 pounds. The normal woman's brain weighs just under 1,300 grams or about 3 pounds, said Dr. Stephen Nelson, a neuropathologist and medical examiner for Polk County who examined Schiavo's brain and spinal cord.
Before her death, the Schindler family and their supporters had pointed to a video showing Schiavo appearing to be following the movement of a balloon and voices in her room as evidence. Medical examiners say none of that was possible because the part of the brain that allows vision was destroyed.
"For years we have been saying she was in a persistent vegetative state," said Felos. "We have been saying for years and years that the eye movements were reflexive actions."
David Gibbs, the parents' attorney, continued to insist Wednesday that Schiavo had limited vision, and he noted that the medical examiners said her heart was so strong that Schiavo could have lived another decade if her feeding tube had not been removed.
She not only had a strong heart," said Gibbs. "She had a strong will to live. Terri Schiavo was not in an end of life situation."
Schiavo died on March 31, ending a bitter battle between her husband, who valiantly tried to save her only to give up when doctors convinced him it was hopeless, and her equally determined parents who fought to keep her alive convinced that she could improve enough to live the life of a disabled person.
Their emotional turmoil and acrimonious struggle was taken up by nearly 40 state and federal judges while engulfing Gov. Jeb Bush and Legislature and President Bush and Congress. Leaders in both Tallahassee and Washington sided with the Schindlers and passed laws intended to prolong Schiavo's life. Those laws failed in both state and federal courts.
Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was told about the autopsy report and remains "deeply saddened by this case."
"The president took the position he did for a reason. The president believes we should stand on the side of defending and protecting life. That's why he stood with all those who supported efforts to defend her life. This is a sad case. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with her family and friends."
Gov. Bush said, "Terri's life and her death remind us all that life is so fragile and must be valued. We will continue to strive to protect our most vulnerable citizens. All innocent human life is precious and government has a duty to protect the weak, disabled and vulnerable."
The Schindlers always insisted that their daughter could learn to swallow and perhaps even feed herself with the proper training.
Thogmartin said her brain was too severely damaged for that to happen. He said a feeding tube was necessary to give her nutrition and any attempt at allowing her to swallow may have choked her to death.
Despite 274 external and internal body images, careful examination of her body, organs and brain, numerous tests and reviews of past medical records and investigations, medical examiners could arrive at no scientific conclusion about the collapse that eventually led to the removal of her feeding tube.
Examiners carefully reviewed reports that she might have an eating disorder that led to collapse. Low levels of potassium in her blood - while sometimes indicative of an eating disorder - were not conclusive and could have been caused by her emergency treatment, Thogmartin said.
She did not starve to death, Thogmartin said. Her official cause of death - dehydration.
Thogmartin said he wished he could tell the Schiavo's husband and family why she collapsed that morning in February 1990.
He offered, "my apologies for not being about to find out a definitive answer for them. I did my best. That's all I can do."