A little girl from Teddington's family said she has experienced life-changing benefits from pioneering surgery after she became the youngest person in the UK to have a middle ear implant.

Charlotte Wright was three years old when she underwent the treatment after being born with microtia, a congenital deformity where the outer ear is underdeveloped, and atresia, absence of the ear canal.

Her parents, Sophie and Simon Wright, hoped it would not affect her hearing and development because her left ear appeared normal, but unfortunately she went on to develop glue ear in that ear and could not hear well 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.”

Then doctors found that, unlike some children with microtia and atresia, one of Charlotte’s ossicles – three tiny bones in the ear which transmit sounds – was not malformed.

Because of this little bone, she was suitable for a Vibrant Soundbridge middle ear implant. While it had been used on patients with hearing loss before, it had never been implanted into a child as young as her in the UK.

The device replaced the function of her middle and outer ear: an external processor with a microphone, which sits behind her ear, picks up sound.

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

Sophie said: “It was incredible when it was turned on. 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.

“For example, it was reprogrammed so she could hear noise from different directions and individual voices over background noise. By early this summer the settings were perfect for her.”

Professor Dan Jiang, consultant otolaryngologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’Hospitals, said other young children could benefit from the implant.

He said: “A proportion of children with microtia and atresia have relatively normal stapes [tiny bones that transmit sound] 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.”

Charlotte, now five, has experienced dramatic improvements in her speech and behaviour and is flourishing at school.

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. We are very pleased she had it – 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.”