Chennai-based hospital has claimed to have successfully performed a Microvascular Decompression (MVD) surgery to treat a 26-year-old man who had been suffering from a rare form of tinnitus (when you experience ringing or other noises in one or both of your ears) for two years.
For 26-year-old Venkat, the last two years were full of sleepless nights. It all started in April 2019 when Venkat started experiencing a constant ringing noise in his ears. He was not able to sleep, focus on work, or study.
Venkat said, "I couldn't sleep and I had to keep a table fan behind my ear and there had to be a lot of arrangements to even help me get some sleep. I was not able to focus on studies or work."
In the past two years, Venkat met many ENT doctors but nobody could diagnose why he had been experiencing a constant ringing in the ears. His hearing was fine, according to the doctors.
Eventually, Venkat found out that he was suffering from tinnitus, a rare health condition in which the patient feels a ringing noise in the ears continuously, even though there is no external noise.
The disease is so rare that the medical world has recorded less than 50 cases worldwide, with none from India till date, the hospital said.
Dr K Sridhar, Director and Group Head, Institute of Neurosciences & Spinal Disorders, MGM Healthcare, was the one who helped Venkat find out about this condition. Not only did he diagnosed the issue, but he also helped Venkat to get back to normal life.
Dr Sridhar performed a highly specialised surgery called Microvascular Decompression (MVD), a procedure that is regularly performed to treat Trigeminal Neuralgia (shock-like pain over the face due to compression of nerves).
MVD was successfully used in treating tinnitus for the first time in India.
"After a detailed examination, it was diagnosed that the artery abutting the auditory nerve was creating this problem," said Dr Sridhar.
"The main issue while performing this surgery for tinnitus is that if it is not performed with utmost precision, the patient can turn deaf and also develop facial weakness," added Dr Sridhar.
Almost a month after the surgery, Venkat said, "Two years is a long time to have a ringing sound in the ears. It really took a lot away from my life and work. I am grateful to Dr Sridhar and his team at MGM Healthcare for helping me find relief to my problem. I feel much much better. I am living a normal life now."