Lost sight and sound, surgery restores hope for engineer battling Schizophrenia

New Delhi: In a rare case, doctors at a Delhi hospital have restored hearing in both ears of a 52-year-old blind man suffering from schizophrenia, offering him a renewed connection to the world after years of mounting isolation.The patient, a mechanical engineer from IIT Kharagpur who worked at a PSU, led a normal life until a series of health setbacks changed everything. Doctors said the patient had an underlying mental illness and in 2021, he lost his vision due to an untreated cataract. The loss of sight compounded his mental health, pushing him into depression, eventually leading to schizophrenia.Despite these challenges, his hearing remained his only link to the outside world, until this Jan, when a viral infection caused around 90% hearing loss in both ears.Dr. Sumit Mrig, Director of ENT and Cochlear Implant Surgery at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dwarka.While cochlear implants are common, treating such a case was far from straightforward. “The patient’s condition posed “multiple layers of complexity.” Routine diagnostic tests like MRI and hearing response assessments had to be conducted under sedation due to his psychiatric condition. Even communication before surgery was extremely difficult, and managing his anxiety and distress during anesthesia required careful planning,” said Dr. Sumit Mrig, director of ENT and cochlear implant surgery at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dwarka.