A 30-year-old man has no external ears or a visible ear canal but listens and talks normally.
This is rarest of the rare birth defect, and as the man from Dausa can communicate, it means his middle and internal hearing organs appear to be normal, said Dr Neeraj Kasliwal, prominent ENT surgeon and head of department at Fortis Hospital here.
"Of course, a human being without pinnae (external ears) and hole can hear if his middle and internal organs are fit. Such patient listens through bone conduction of skull but the quality of voice heard might not be clear because there is absence of air conduction," Kasliwal told PTI.
A new implant Bone Anchord Hearing Aid (BAHA) could be tried to improve the hearing ability and plastic surgery could provide artificial pinnae, Kasliwal said.
When contacted, 30-year-old Daulatram Jangid told PTI over phone: "I have this defect by birth and have no external pinnae nor any hole."
Jangid, who had studied till Class 10, said none of his four siblings - two brothers and sisters - have such defect.
He said it was very disappointing during school life when his classmates made fun of him.
Jangid, who helps his brother in carpentry, also feels the defect is probably the reason he could not get married.
His brother Murari Jangid said he should be given a government job as he could not afford a costly operation.
