In this video from July 2019, Dr Ron Eavey discusses microtia and aural atresia, the process of rib grafts, ear and jaw reconstruction, soft tissue reconstruction, cryptotia, research on growing cartilage in the shape of an ear, and what we know about possible environmental and genetic causes of microtia and atresia. He discusses a twin study with 31 sets of identical and fraternal twins with microtia which indicates a complex (not traditional recessive or dominant) genetic influence (published in the New England Journal of Medicine), and the genes he and other researchers have found, which form the ensemble of genes that create microtia under certain circumstances.
Dr. Eavey has had a passion for working with children for decades, specifically children who were born with Microtia and other malformations of the ear, including hearing loss. As a pediatric ENT, Dr. Eavey enjoys working with children everyday at Vanderbilt University’s Medical Center and at the Monroe Carrel Children’s Hospital. Making children happy is something that Dr. Eavey lives for. If he can help children learn to love themselves more and be happier by helping them have a newly reconstructed ear and to hear better, he will offer every option he has to make this possible for these children. Dr. Eavey has three children of his own.