The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Record number of cochlear implant surgeries done

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Monday, Oct 27, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Record number of cochlear implant surgeries done

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: A series of 18 cochlear implant surgeries, a potentially record-setting attempt, were conducted in as many children on a single day at Apollo Hospitals. The ENT team of Apollo Health City led by E.C. Vinay Kumar took up the surgeries on Friday, October 24 between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m., authorities have revealed.

Such a large number of cochlear implants, the authorities claimed, “have never been documented anywhere else in the world’. As documentary evidence, Limca Book of Records video recorded the surgeries while Guinness Book of World Records has asked the hospital to send them the video evidence. “Such an attempt is the only way to spread awareness on the plight of deaf children and to highlight the fact that severe deafness is treatable. Earlier, there were cost restrains, but thanks to ‘Arogyasri’, cost is not an issue at all,” said CEO of Apollo Health City K. Hari Prasad to media persons.

Cochlear implant is a procedure in which an electronic device is surgically implanted to give a sense of sound to severely deaf persons. Under the ‘Arogyasri’ scheme, nearly Rs. 6.5 lakh would be spent on each child .

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