Question:medium
A baby failed to pass meconium. In this disease, the structures absent are absent in which of the following layer(s)? 
Select the correct answer from the given below cord:
A baby failed to pass meconium. In this disease, the structures absent are absent in which of the following layer(s)?
Select the correct answer from the given below cord:
Select the correct answer from the given below cord:
Show Hint
Hirschsprung = absent ganglion cells of Meissner's (submucosa) and Auerbach's (muscularis) plexuses → layers 2 and 3.
Updated On: Jun 22, 2026
- 1 n 2
- 2 n 3
- 3 n 4
- 1 n 4
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Anatomy-of-the-gut-wall approach. The clinical clue (a newborn not passing meconium) names the disease - Hirschsprung disease - in which ganglion cells of the enteric nervous system fail to develop in the distal colon. The real question is purely anatomical: in which layers of the bowel wall do those ganglion cells normally live?
Walk through the four layers of the gut from inside out:
1. Mucosa / epithelium - lining only, no neural plexus.
2. Submucosa - houses the submucosal (Meissner's) plexus.
3. Muscularis externa - between its circular and longitudinal muscle coats lies the myenteric (Auerbach's) plexus.
4. Serosa - outer mesothelial covering, no plexus.
So the enteric ganglia are confined to layers 2 (submucosa) and 3 (muscular). In Hirschsprung disease both Meissner's and Auerbach's plexuses are aganglionic, which is why both these layers are involved.
The matching option is 2 n 3 (Option B); choices that involve epithelium (1) or serosa (4) cannot be right because those layers never contain ganglion cells.
Walk through the four layers of the gut from inside out:
1. Mucosa / epithelium - lining only, no neural plexus.
2. Submucosa - houses the submucosal (Meissner's) plexus.
3. Muscularis externa - between its circular and longitudinal muscle coats lies the myenteric (Auerbach's) plexus.
4. Serosa - outer mesothelial covering, no plexus.
So the enteric ganglia are confined to layers 2 (submucosa) and 3 (muscular). In Hirschsprung disease both Meissner's and Auerbach's plexuses are aganglionic, which is why both these layers are involved.
The matching option is 2 n 3 (Option B); choices that involve epithelium (1) or serosa (4) cannot be right because those layers never contain ganglion cells.
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