A nine-year-old boy, who was born deaf and without any ears, gets ears after a number of surgeries.
Kieran Sorkin, a resident of Bushey, Hertfordshire was born deaf and had a rare medical condition called bilateral microtia, where the external ears of the affected remain underdeveloped. Usually, people who have bilateral microtia do not have fully formed ears, but still have ear lobes where the ears should be. The disease is said to affect 1 in 100,000 children.
Before the surgery, the youngster said that he was excited as he always wanted "big ears" and finally he was getting them. The surgery was performed at the Great Ormond Street hospital (GOSH) in London, which is one of the handful of clinics to perform double ear reconstruction.
In the UK, GOSH performs the highest number of ear reconstructions each year, which amounts to 35 to 40 reconstructions per year. Around five cases per year are of bilateral reconstructions, such as Kieran's.
Neil Bulstrode, GOSH consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon, says that they performed a six-hour surgery on Kieran. The surgeons took Kieran's rib cartilage and made them in the shape of ears. Bulstrode says that usually proceed with bilateral reconstructions one at a time. However, in Kieran's case they carved both the ears at once. The surgeon explains that constructing both ears together gives best result and ensures they are balanced.
Kieran has already undergone a number of separate surgeries, which will help him to hear using a hearing aid. The latest ear reconstruction surgery will benefit Kieran considerably. Bulstrode explains that Kieran's ear reconstruction will help the youngster build confidence and perform better at school.
"It's been heart-wrenching for us and we've had the moral dilemma all along of whether it's right to change the features that Kieran was born with. But Kieran has talked about having ear surgery ever since the age of six when he saw a TV program about it. It was very important that this was Kieran's decision, and I think it's happened at exactly the right time for his development," says David Sorkin, Kieran's father.
The surgeons say that Kieran will undergo another surgery in the next six months, where the doctors will place a small skin implant behind Kieran's ears, which will assist the ears to push out from the head.
GOSH are researching on new techniques for ear reconstruction. Researchers are planning to use the stem cells of the patients for the ear reconstruction, which will be less invasive than the current methods.
