February 2008

Hospital notes clinical and research achievements

The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital cemented its reputation as a world leader in specialist eye, ear, nose and throat healthcare in 2007 with groundbreaking medical procedures and research.

Chief Executive Officer Graeme Houghton said the achievements of specialist clinicians and research partners demonstrated the hospital’s commitment to delivering the best possible outcomes for the people of Victoria.

‘Staff at this hospital strive to deliver the best care to patients whether it be through the application of world’s best practice surgery or by proactively supporting research projects aimed at improving clinical outcomes for patients in Australia and around the world.’

The prestigious British Medical Journal published the findings of groundbreaking work by a collaborative team of clinicians from the hospital, the Bionic Ear Institute and the University of Melbourne.

The team of researchers was the first in the world to scientifically test the link between cochlear implantation and the brain disease meningitis.

The scientific research ultimately confirmed immunisation of cochlear implant recipients was a simple and effective method of reducing the risk of the disease developing following implantation.

The research also highlighted the importance of non-traumatic surgical technique and implant design.

Earlier in the year, Eye and Ear Hospital surgeon Robert Briggs performed Victoria’s first bilateral cochlear implant surgery, where a profoundly deaf toddler received two cochlear implants in the same operation.

In May, the Eye and Ear became the first hospital in Australia to offer patients the option of having a partial corneal transplant performed by surgeons using specialist equipment.

This procedure was successfully performed on a patient from Mt Eliza.

This year, Dr Bryony Coleman will go to Harvard University to continue research into the development of stem cell therapy for cochlear implant recipients.

Dr Coleman, who is from the University of Melbourne’s Department of Otolaryngology, hopes to develop specialist techniques to restore the function of the auditory nerve.

Dr Coleman was the recipient of one of the state’s highest honours for researchers earlier this year, the Victoria Fellowship.