Two-and-a-half year old Nadia Juma, who was diagnosed with congenital hearing loss, has started responding to sounds after undergoing advanced treatment at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital here. The little girl from Tanzania will now be able to lead a life like any other child.
She was diagnosed with congenital hearing loss after her family noticed a lack of response to sounds. Doctors advised cochlear implants for her to be able to hear and speak.
Dr. Ameet Kishore, ENT and Cochlear Implant Surgeon at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital & SpHear Speech & Hearing Clinic, said: “After a thorough examination, we concluded that the girl was a candidate for bilateral cochlear implantation, implying that the cochlear device was needed in both ears.”
Nadia later underwent a procedure where in one operation the cochlear implants were placed in both her ears.
Since the treatment does not end at activating the implants, the child will have to undergo training to make sense of sounds. She will continue to receive speech therapy at the SpHear Clinic for a couple of months before she returns home. Though the family is set to return to Tanzania in two months, they will need to remain in touch with the speech and hearing therapists.
