8-year-old US boy gets new pair of ears grown by Indian-origin doctor

Washington, Aug 23: An Indian-origin doctor in the US created history after successfully growing outer ears from rib cartilage in an 8-year-old boy from Ohio.

Dr Ananth Murthy, director of plastic surgery at Akron Children's Hospital attained the success after a series of miraculous surgeries.

Elijah Bell, a second-grade student at Frazer Elementary in Canton, Ohio, was born with bilateral atresia microtia, a rare birth defect where the outer ears are undeveloped. In Elijah's case he had no openings to the middle and inner ear because of this the sounds had trouble getting through. He has to wear a bone-anchored hearing aid.

The final round of the surgeries to craft a set of outer ears were completed on July 28 at Akron Children's Hospital.

According to CantonRep.com, the total procedure required five surgeries, starting when Elijah was 4 years old. Along with harvesting cartilage to create the ears, Murthy had to use a skin graft from Elijah's thigh to create a gap between his ears and his head.

During the final surgery in July, Dr. Murthy gave Elijah's ears detailed "hills and valleys."

"The body naturally wants to smooth everything out as it heals, so we always have to go back a couple of times to help create the natural curves of an ear," said Dr. Murthy, in a statement from Akron Children's Hospital.

"It is an artistic procedure, " added Dr Murthy.

Colleen Bell, Elijah's mom consider it to be a miracle in the family. She also said that Elijah has a new outlook on his life after the surgery.

Now the little Elijah is very proud of his ears, said Colleen.

OneIndia News