Hyderabad: Baby Lavanya, a 9-month-old from Guyana, South America, born with profound hearing loss, has undergone a complex cochlear implant surgery at Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad.

The procedure was made possible through the efforts of the Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired (SAHI) and the Sri Satya Sai organization. Previously declined by multiple international centers due to a rare inner ear deformity, Lavanya’s case was accepted by Apollo’s expert ENT team, who carried out the surgery on May 17. The baby is now recovering well and beginning her journey toward hearing and speech.

Dr E C Vinay Kumar, HOD of ENT at Apollo Hospitals said that born to parents Diveka Dhanraj and Satish Sakishnu of Indian origin, Baby Lavanya was unable to develop speech or respond to sounds due to her condition. Despite seeking help at multiple medical centers across Guyana, the country’s limited healthcare infrastructure could not support the specialized surgery required.

Further complications arose when radiological scans revealed cochlear hypoplasia and an anomalous cochlea on the left side, causing multiple international centers to decline performing the operation.