Ear operation cures man of eyeball noise

A man with a medical condition which meant he heard his eyeballs move in their sockets has been cured. Stephen Mabbutt, 57, from Charlton, Oxfordshire, also heard his own heart beating and was finding it increasingly difficult to hear the world around him. Ear expert Richard Irving diagnosed superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) and carried out the surgery. Mr Mabbutt said: "It's made a big difference to my life. I feel a different person all round."

He first experienced symptoms six years ago, in the form of a dull ache in the side of his head. Successive GPs treated him with nasal sprays and antibiotics, but his hearing deteriorated. He then experienced new symptoms - loud noises caused dizziness and his vision pulsated to every rhythm of his speech. "When I raised my voice I could hear it reverberating in my head and the vibrations made my vision vibrate.



"Eventually I could hear my heart beating and my eyes moving in their sockets. It was really distracting." He was eventually referred to Martin Burton, a surgeon from the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital who helped establish the Cochrane Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders Group. Mr Burton conducted a CT scan and noticed perforations inside the semicircular canals inside Mr Mabbutt's ear. He then brought it to the attention of Richard Irving at the Birmingham Ear Clinic.

Mr Irving diagnosed SCDS, a rare condition discovered by American surgeon Lloyd B Minor in 1995. He said: "There may be an annual incidence of one in 500,000 a year in the UK population." The operation to cure the problem involved a 5cm (2in) incision behind the ear, making a channel through the bone to find the "balance organ" and using the patient's own bone to create a seal around the defect. The results for Mr Mabbutt were life-changing.