Saudi doctors implant electrodes into toddler’s brainstem

A medical team at King Abdul Aziz Hospital of the National Guard in Riyadh performed the first operation to implant electrodes into the brainstem of a 3-year-old child. The toddler had been suffering from congenital deformities in his inner ear.
Dr. Khalid Al-Mazroo, deputy executive director of medical services in the Central Province and director of cochlear implants and hearing aids, said that a 15-member medical team successfully performed the operation in four hours. The child was discharged from the hospital for further rehabilitation.
“Only about 200 people have received the implants around the world. Auditory brain implants in children are a new field in the treatment of hearing impairment,” he said.
Al-Mazroo said that King Abdul Aziz Hospital is launching an integrated initiative for auditory brain implants to provide services to patients who suffer from hearing impairment and do not respond to cochlear implants.
“The department of cochlear implants and hearing aids organizes bi-annual meetings with the families of the patients using electronic cochlea, in order to bring attention to these rare conditions. Specialists in cochlear implants and patients attend the meetings,” he said.
The department is pioneering advanced hearing aid implants. It has earlier performed the first electronic cochlear implant (CONCERTO), the world’s lightest electronic cochlea, and Sophono bone-anchored hearing device.