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A girl born without an ear has had her life transformed after become the youngest in the UK have it rebuilt in pioneering surgery .

Charlotte Wright was born deaf and is one of one a handful of children in the world to have a mechanical ear implanted in her skull aged just three.

Two years later her parents have spoken out about the miraculous change in their daughter. Sophie and Simon Wright were shocked when Charlotte was born to see her right ear had not grown in the womb.

She is the first to have the surgery after being born with microtia, a congenital deformity where the outer ear does not form, and atresia, an absence of the ear canal.

The rare conditions usually occur together and mean sound cannot travel to the inner ear on the affected side.

The couple from Teddington in south-west London desperately hoped it would not affect her hearing and development because her left ear was normal.

Then they receiving a second blow when told hearing tests showed Charlotte had glue ear where the middle ear becomes filled with fluid in her left ear. This meant she could not hear properly on either side.

Sophie, 42, said: “Charlotte’s hearing difficulties meant that her speech was delayed, when she spoke no one could understand her and she had behavioural problems because she was so frustrated at not being able to hear.”

As a toddler Charlotte tried to use a bone conduction hearing aid on a headband. This sends vibrations directly through the skull to the cochlea, the hearing part of the inner ear, bypassing the blocked ear canal.

(Image: handout)

Sophie, who runs a business consultancy, said: “It helped but the box on the headband needs to be kept in the correct position and Charlotte always moved it so it didn’t make a big difference.”

Doctors then discovered that unlike some children with microtia and atresia one of Charlotte’s ossicles – the three tiny bones in the ear which transmit sounds to the cochlea – was not malformed.

Because the little bone, known as stapes, is the key one of the hearing bones it meant she was suitable for a Vibrant Soundbridge middle ear implant.

The device replaces the function of the middle and outer ear. An external processor with a microphone sits behind the ear and picks up sound.

This connects magnetically to the receiver which is implanted under the skin. Signals are transmitted from the processor to the receiver which causes the part of the implant that sits in the stapes to vibrate.

The vibrations travel to the inner ear, from where the normal hearing process can take place.

The operation by surgeons from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust’s specialist microtia and atresia clinic made Charlotte is the youngest person in the UK to have a middle ear implant.

Medics believe the procedure could help patients born with other more common hearing loss conditions.

Charlotte had the procedure in July 2016, just before her fourth birthday, and the device was turned on 12 weeks later.

“It was incredible when it was turned on,” Sophie explained.

“Charlotte heard things she had never heard before and she could finally hear the teacher properly at school. It made a big difference straightaway.

“The audiology team at St Thomas’ were meticulous when adjusting the settings to get the sound right for Charlotte.

“It was programmed so she could hear noise from different directions and individual voices over background noise. By early this summer the settings were perfect for her.”

The middle ear device is implanted under the skin so unlike some other hearing devices it does not leave an open wound which needs a lot of care and risks infection.

Professor Dan Jiang, consultant otolaryngologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “A proportion of children with microtia and atresia have relatively normal stapes which can be accessed by surgery.

“They may be suitable for the device, as well as children with other types of hearing loss, especially those who have problems using hearing aids, and those with chronic ear infections or tumours.

“This is a world-leading intervention. The beauty of it is the receiver is under the skin and young children can have it so their hearing loss can be rehabilitated early in their life.

“It also won’t have negative implications for the future reconstruction of the outer ear.”

Sophie and Simon Wright, who also have a four-year-old daughter Emily, are overjoyed with Charlotte’s progress at school.

Charlotte, now five, has experienced dramatic improvements in her speech and behaviour.

Sophie said: “I’m proud she is the youngest child to have the implant in the UK. It was a big thing to go through and she coped incredibly. It’s been amazing.

“When she is a bit older she will have reconstruction surgery if she wants it. We used to worry she would be embarrassed about her ‘little ear’ but she’s so proud to tell everyone about it.”