Date:04/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/04/stories/2008100459740600.htm

Karnataka

It’s hear and now for this baby

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Akshara, a seven-month-old baby suffering from hearing loss as a result of bacterial meningitis, is now assured of a normal life thanks to right cochlear implantation surgery conducted by the doctors of Apollo Hospital in the city.

In a surgery lasting three hours, Dr. Sunil Narayan Dutt and his team successfully implanted the “Nucleus Freedom Device” into the baby’s ear.

Talking to presspersons, Dr. Dutt, an ENT surgeon and cochlear implant specialist, said: “Akshara was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis when she was four months. She was admitted to another hospital in Bangalore and further investigations revealed bilateral profound sensori-neural hearing loss as a result of the disease.”

“Though she was given a hearing aid, there seemed to be no significant improvement, as High Resolution CT Scan of the temporal bones and MRI of the brain and the IAC revealed early signs of labyrinthitis ossificans with cochlear fibrosis, a condition where the turns of the inner ear (cochlea) gradually get closed with scar tissue and new bone formation,” he said.

The cochlear implant was switched on after a month, and much to the delight of Akshara’s family, she was able to hear.

She is soon expected to develop speech and language on a par with any other child of her age, for which she is undergoing regular rehabilitation and speech therapy. “Neurologically, due to the thinning of some parts of the brain, baby Akshara has a few deficits and is currently undergoing physiotherapy to correct these,” he said.

Celebrities from the Kannada film industry, including Yograj Bhatt, director of “Mungaru Male”; Rajesh Krishnan, playback singer; Shailaja Santosh; Kannada TV host; and Shamita Malnad, Kannada playback singer were present on the occasion.