Braga hospital performs first cochlear implant on baby under 12-months

A delighted team at Braga hospital is celebrating the success of its first cochlear implant surgery, performed yesterday on a baby under 12-months of age.

The surgery – described as of ‘elevated complexity’ due to the infant’s young age/ size – will hopefully see the baby develop hearing and language in very much the same way to other children of the same age, not born deaf.

The procedure was performed bilaterally by the ENT team of ULS Braga, composed of doctors Daniela Ribeiro and Miguel Breda, and included the support of João Elói, coordinator of the Cochlear Implant Reference Centre of ULS Coimbra.

According to ULS Braga, this was a “high-complexity” intervention that required a “high degree of precision” in the placement of the devices and special care in preserving the facial nerve. The surgery also involved “strict anesthetic management,” since babies of this age have lower blood reserves and lower tolerance for prolonged procedures.

Surgery may be decisive for child’s development

The institution explains that in children with profound deafness performing a cochlear implant before the age of three “is decisive for the acquisition of hearing, sound discrimination, and normal language development.”

Scientific evidence shows that when the procedure is performed later, results in hearing and speech development “may be significantly compromised.”

The goal, explains ULS Braga, is to allow a deaf child to “hear, understand, and speak in the same way as any other child of the same age.”

“This is a very significant moment for our team and for ULS Braga. Performing the first pediatric cochlear implant at the institution and doing so in a baby under one year old shows that we are prepared to offer this response locally, without the need to travel to other centres,” said Braga otorhinolaryngologist Miguel Breda – adding that these implants are “probably one of the most transformative technologies in modern medicine” as they make it ”possible to restore hearing to those who are born without it and open the way to full development of language and communication.”

According to ULS Braga, performing this surgery strengthens the institution’s differentiation in the field of pediatric otorhinolaryngology and is part of a collaboration that has been developed with ULS Coimbra in the field of cochlear implants.

Source: SIC Notícias

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.