Friday, August 31, 2012

Causes Still Unknown

Microtia causes are still something that doctors have not figured out. This is a condition that affects a newborn child's ears and impacts approximately 1 out of every 10,000 babies that are born. This number is different depending on which study you look at, but this is an approximate number. This condition causes a child to have deformities to one or both ears. It can vary from mild to severe cases, and to this point there is no reasonable explanation for it happening. There is one thing that doctors have ruled out though. This one thing is that there is really no correlation between the mother and the baby. This means that there is no evidence that this is caused by the mother doing something during the time she is pregnant. In fact, there is very little correlation between microtia causes and any other conditions. The only thing that doctors really know is that it is more likely to occur when someone has other types of syndromes, such as Treacher Collins Syndrome or hemifacial microsomia syndrome.
One thing that you should know about this is that an ultrasound is not likely to see this condition. If the condition is really severe, the ultrasound may be able to see that the child does not have ears. If the condition is mild, there is no chance that the ultrasound will catch it. When a child has microtia, it is often labeled as one of the possible four grades. Beginning at Grade 1, the severity of this condition is very mild. This grade is so mild that it may be hard to even notice that there is a problem. Moving on to Stage 2, you will be able to see that the child has most of the ear, but there might be some part of it missing. Grade 3 is often labeled as the grade when a child's ear or ears are like small nubs or peanuts. Finally, Grade 4 is the diagnosis when the ears are not present at all.
One of the problems that this causes is hearing loss. Microtia really refers to the outer portion of the ear, but this can cause problems to the inner part. If the outer part has not developed properly, there is a very high chance that the child will not have his full hearing. There could be parts of the inner ear that have not developed, and there could also be parts in the middle ear that are underdeveloped.
When a child is diagnosed with any grade of microtia, the doctors must come up with a plan to treat the problem. Growing up with small ears or without ears could be something that could really harm a child, especially if the child cannot hear well. Other children will make fun of this child, and the child may be embarrassed because of this problem. Trained cosmetic surgeons can help. They are able to use various techniques to correct the problem. They will often reconstruct the ears, or they will attach prosthetic ears if necessary. Hopefully, someday they will find microtia causes so they can prevent this condition from occurring.

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