Question:easy
An infant is brought to the casualty with a history of violent shaking by the parents. The most characteristic injury is?
An infant is brought to the casualty with a history of violent shaking by the parents. The most characteristic injury is?
Show Hint
Shaking tears the bridging veins crossing a particular meningeal space.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Long bone fracture
- Ruptured spleen
- Subdural hematoma
- Skull bone fracture
Show Solution
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The scenario of an infant subjected to violent shaking corresponds to abusive head trauma, commonly called Shaken Baby Syndrome. The key to answering is understanding the mechanism. An infant has a disproportionately large head, poor neck muscle tone and a soft, water-rich brain, so when shaken the brain swirls inside the skull. The shearing and rotational stress stretches and ruptures the bridging veins that run from the cortical surface to the dural venous sinuses across the subdural compartment.
Because these veins drain into the subdural space, their rupture collects blood there, producing a subdural hematoma. This finding, together with retinal hemorrhages and signs of diffuse brain injury, makes up the classic triad used to recognise the syndrome.
The remaining options do not fit shaking alone. Fractures of long bones or the skull generally need a direct blow or impact, and splenic rupture points to blunt force to the abdomen rather than oscillation of the head. Thus the most characteristic lesion is bleeding into the subdural space.\[\boxed{\text{Subdural hematoma}}\]
Because these veins drain into the subdural space, their rupture collects blood there, producing a subdural hematoma. This finding, together with retinal hemorrhages and signs of diffuse brain injury, makes up the classic triad used to recognise the syndrome.
The remaining options do not fit shaking alone. Fractures of long bones or the skull generally need a direct blow or impact, and splenic rupture points to blunt force to the abdomen rather than oscillation of the head. Thus the most characteristic lesion is bleeding into the subdural space.\[\boxed{\text{Subdural hematoma}}\]
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