Chennai: Doctors at MGM Healthcare performed simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants on a 35-year-old techie, activating both devices immediately after surgery to restore hearing she lost to a post-COVID complication.The patient, a mother of two who handles virtual meetings at a multinational IT firm, developed auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder – a condition in which sound reaches her cochlea but fails to transmit clearly to the brain, leading to total deafness over six months.
Unlike standard practice, which delays activation for days or weeks, surgeons switched on the implants intraoperatively during the six-hour procedure. The implants bypass damaged hair cells to stimulate the auditory nerve directly. ENT surgeon Dr Sanjeev Mohanty, who headed the surgery said they used smart navigation guidance, high-resolution microscopes, facial nerve monitoring, and minimal drilling.The patient was discharged from the hospital in 48 hours. She should achieve speech comprehension in two to three months, said Dr Mohanty. Speech comprehension after cochlear implantation, even with immediate activation, requires weeks to months because the brain must adapt to the implant’s unnatural electrical signals through intensive rehabilitation, he said. Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder accounts for about 5% of non-age-related hearing loss in India, and is sometimes linked to post-viral effects, he said.
