Bringing sound in their lives

Bringing sound in their lives

Sapna Dogra profiles Dr J M Hans, the only ENT surgeon in India to perform cochlear implantusing the Veria technique

About three years back, ten-year-old Komala couldn’t distinguish the murmur of a river from the honking of car. She was born deaf. Today, her soundless existence has filled with worldly noises, thanks to the cochlear implant surgery that she underwent. Komala can not only hear clearly but she has started to respond by picking up sounds around her and understanding them with the help of speech therapy sessions.

A few years back, there was no hope for people like Komala. Sign language was their only refuge. But, not anymore. This has been proved by Dr J M Hans, senior ENT specialist and head of unit at Dr R M L Hospital in New Delhi. Dr Hans holds the unique distinction of being the only surgeon in the country and among three to four in the world who are conducting minimal invasive surgery using the Veria technique. To Dr Hans also goes the credit of inventing a speech valve used for implants in throats in cases of cancer and other throat injuries.

Dr Hans has successfully performed 26 cochlear implants so far, of which 17 have been done at Dr R M L alone and rest at hospitals in Lucknow and Ahmedabad. These days, he undertakes five-six cases a month using the Veria technique, with patients coming from various places across the country.

The cochlear implant surgeries have been conducted free of cost by Dr Hans barring the cost of implant, which costs about Rs 5 lakh. The Veria technique named after the place in Greece is beneficial for both pre-lingual deafness from birth and post lingual cases. The surgery is helpful in deaf and dumb children who are below 12 years.

These platinum implants are being manufactured in Australia, Austria and the US. Dr Hans says research is on for making completely implantable cochlear implants (CC Implants). His excellent surgical skills made Dr Trifan Kiratzidis from Greece present Dr Hans with a perforator used in the Veria technique. The perforator specially designed for precision drilling in the ear has been invented by Dr Trifan.

A topper through his academic career, Dr Hans did not dream of becoming an ENT specialist. However destiny had another plans for him. Not satisfied with conducting cancer surgeries, he took interest in exploring the cochlear defects. He laments that in our country ENT specialist didn’t know much about cochlear, so much so that no one thought about the possibility that prelingual deafness could have a solution.

His quest to know more took him all over the globe and he brought that experience home to treat his fellow countrymen.

Dr Hans is heading a WHO project wherein people are being screened for collecting a database for understanding the trends and nature of hearing loss in India.

Under the project, in a population every fifth house will be screened, including the youngest and the oldest member of the family, for hearing problems. The study has already started in Delhi and will cover the entire nation, including both the rural and urban areas. This is the first time that such a study is being conducted pertaining to ear ailments.

Even now the awareness level in ENT specialists is very low, opines Dr Hans. On an optimistic note, he adds, the scenario will improve because many specialists have come forward to learn Veria technique from him.

Though 5,000 children are born deaf every day, deafness has never been a priority with the medical fraternity and the government, he rues. And that is why ENT specialist like Dr Hans can make a difference.

http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/20040115/management02.shtml