A motorcyclist dies after a road traffic accident. Autopsy shows a transverse fracture running across the floor of the middle cranial fossa, passing through the petrous temporal bones and the sella turcica, dividing the skull base into anterior and posterior halves. This fracture is called:
- A Ring fracture
- B Hinge fracture ✓
- C Gutter fracture
- D Contre-coup fracture
Correct answer: B. Hinge fracture
Explanation
The hinge fracture runs transversely across the middle cranial fossa through both petrous bones and the body of the sphenoid, allowing the skull base to hinge open. It classically results from side impact in vehicular accidents. A ring fracture encircles the foramen magnum, a gutter fracture is a tangential groove cut by a projectile, and contre-coup refers to brain injury opposite the impact site, not a named basal fracture.
Reference: Knight's Forensic Pathology, 4th ed.
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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.