Deaf children have 95% chance of hearing – ENT expert
Prof. Milan Profant, an expert on Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), on
Tuesday said many children born deaf in Nigeria have 95 per cent chance of
hearing.
Profant, Head of
MED-EL, a visiting medical team from Austria
that specialises in bone implant, said this in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos .
He spoke at the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, where his team
performed a bone-bridge surgery for children with hearing defects. Profant said that the hearing defects, whether congenital or accidental, could
be corrected through implant surgery which was first carried out successfully
in Africa on Dec.18.
“Bone-bridge is
the world’s first active bone conduction implant.
“This bone
conduction implant enables sound transmission directly to the inner ear by
means of bone conduction, ’’ MED-EL said in its online publication.
Profant said that
with bone-bridge, many children born with ear defects in Nigeria could
have “a 95 per cent chance of hearing whether congenital or accidental.’’ “There is hope for the rehabilitation of children born with ear defects, they
are normal people, the only problem is deafness.
“About 90 per cent
of children born deaf are by parents who can hear and the parents cannot expect
such a problem.
“The hope is that
the problem can be solved.
“The cost of
implant for Nigerian condition is about 20, 000 dollars (N3.94 million). It is
not a price for a single procedure, but all,’’ he said.
Profant said that
the surgery carried out in Lagos
was successful.
He said that some
doctors in Nigeria
had been trained to continue with the rehabilitation process after the surgery.
Check The Daily Post
newspaper for the full story.
Comments
Post a Comment