Jose Chacko Periappuram

Jose Chacko Periappuram was born in South Paravur, a small village in Ernakulam district of the Indian state of Kerala, born to P. M. Chacko and Mary Chacko couple.[2] His father , P. M. Chacko, was a known botanist who is credited with the discovery two plant species and served as principal at St. Thomas College, Pala from 1979 to 1984.[3] Fr. Abel, the founder chairman of Kalabhavan, was his paternal uncle.[4] After completing his matriculation studies from St. Ephraim's High School, Mannanam, he joined St. Thomas College, Palai, from where he earned a BSc with botany as the optional subject.[5] He passed MBBS from Govt. Medical College, Kottayam in 1985 and after a year of senior house surgeoncy at the Kottayam Medical College, he proceeded to the United Kingdom for post-graduate education and training.

He completed his FRCS part 1 from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in Dublin in 1986 and completed his general surgical training from various hospitals in the Republic of Ireland. This included the County Hospital, Roscommon, Our Lady's Hospital, Drogheda, and the Mater Misericordiae Hospital at Dublin. He passed his FRCS from the Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow and Edinburgh in the year 1992. His higher cardiac surgical training was mainly at the University Hospital of Wales and Manchester Royal Infirmary and passed the FRCS in cardiac surgery in 1994, one of the few cardiac surgeons to secure this degree from all three surgical colleges. His mentor was I. M. Breckenridge, who was a member of the team which led the first heart surgery in England in the 1960s. He further underwent training in cardiac transplantation at the Papworth Hospital.

On his return to Kerala, Periappuram joined Medical Trust Hospital, Kochi, where a 34-year-old heart patient by the name of K. A. Abraham reported with the possibility of survival hanging on a heart transplant.[6] It was coincidental that the family of Sukumaran, who died in a road accident, agreed to donate the deceased's heart. In May 2003, the team led by Periappuram performed the first heart transplantation in the state of Kerala,[7] thus making it the third state in India to achieve this feat.[8]

Periappuram performed the second heart transplant the next year.[9] Vipin, the benefactor, had a heart transplant, as a part of the first multi-organ transplant in the state.[10] Periappuram has since performed over 11 heart transplants.[11][12][13][14][15]

On 6 March 2014, Jose became the first cardiac surgeon to conduct a successful heart re-transplant in the country.[16][17][18][19] 9 months later, Gireesh, the fourth transplant patient[20] had developed a fever which led to a valve infection and thus an unusable heart which had to be replaced.

On 9 May 2020, Jose and his team from Lisie Hospital used the services of the Govt of Kerala's Heli service to transport the heart harvested from a patient in Thiruvananthapuram, about 210 km away to Grand Hyatt Bolgatty Palace Helipad, The roads were emptied by the police for the ambulance and reached via road to Lisie Hospital in just 4 minutes.[21][22]

On 24 July 2015, Jose and his team from Lisie Hospital used the services of the Indian navy by using their Dornier aircraft to transport the heart harvested from a patient in Thiruvananthapuram, about 210 km away, and reached back to Lisie Hospital in just 75 minutes. The roads were emptied by the police for the ambulance and it took them 20 minutes from when they landed at the naval base.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

[30][31][32] He has received honours from state leaders and the cardinal as well.[33][34][35] Kerala has plans to set up an air-ambulance system after how useful it was proven to be.[36][37][38]

Off-pump coronary artery bypass (beating heart surgery)

He was the first heart surgeon to commence a beating heart surgical program in Kerala. He is also the first surgeon in Kerala to perform bypass surgery using arterial grafts and also TAR.[39] Jose pioneered performing bypass surgery using arteries only. Yet another group of patients who due to lung diseases could not have their surgeries done were helped by a very novel technique called awake bypass surgery.[40] This was done for the first time in Kerala by Jose. Bypass surgery is conventionally done under general anaesthesia, obstructing natural breathing and the patient would require a breathing machine (ventilator).

He has participated in more than 15,000 heart surgeries and has independently performed more than 10,000 surgeries. He has trained many surgeons who became senior consultants in many esteemed institutions in India and abroad. He has also performed a very large number of valvular heart surgeries and has performed the maximum number of tissue root replacements in India. He has helped various governmental hospitals in Kerala to establish heart surgery facilities.

His charitable trust called the Heart Care Foundation[41] helps government medical colleges in Kerala enabling poor patients to have heart surgeries done, by helping them financially. They also aim to educate the common people of India about the heart diseases.[42] The Heart Care Foundation[43][44] has multiple projects in operation.[45] They have donated organs to various Government Medical College Hospitals. They have also conducted charity runs and mini-marathons[46][47] and have organised the World Heart Day[48][49][50][51] countless times. M. Beena, director, Fisheries was presented with the Social Excellence Award for her services in society as the district administrator.[52]

Consultant and Head of Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Lisie Heart Institute,[63] Kochi, Kerala, India chairman, Heart Care Foundation

Joint Secretary, Heart Failure Society of India

President, Quality Forum Kerala

Director, Kalabhavan Studios Ltd, Ernakulam

Trustee, Kalabhavan Talent Residential School, Kochi

Secretary of the Kerala Medical Association in 1981

National Organizing Secretary of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular Conference in 2005[64][65][66][67]

An executive committee member of the Indian Cardio-Vascular Association for three years from 2005 to 2008

• Mother Teresa Award, 2003
• Lions Club Recognition Award 2003–2004
• Karathur Markaz recognition Award
• Lions Club Award Lifetime Achievement,[68] 2004
• Vocational Excellence Award, Rotary Club of Cochin West, 2005
• Vocational Excellence Award, Rotary Club Cochin Harbor, 2003–2004
• Vocational Excellence Award, Rotary Club of Alleppey, 2008
• Vocational Excellence Award, Rotary Club of Aroor, 2008
• Vocational Excellence Award, Rotary Club of Shertallay Town, 2009
• Vocational Excellence Award, Rotary Club of Cochin Global, 2010
• Indira Gandhi Award, Kuwait, 2006
• Lion's International Merit Award, 2009
• Alumni Association St. Thomas College Palai Award, 2009
• Padmashri award 2011[69]

Besides numerous medical and non-medical articles being published, he has presented a large number of clinical studies at the various national conferences. He has also written an educative book about heart diseases in Malayalam called 'HRIDAYAM' (The Heart).

Former National Security Advisor and Paschim Banga (West Bengal) Governor M K Narayanan felicitated Jose on winning the Padmashri award at a function organised by the Forum for Growth, Development and Progress (GDP), Kochi.[70]

He spoke on the need for co-ordination between hospitals with elaborate heart care departments, at a press meeting on an uncommon multiple surgery on and introduced the orator. P.V. Louis for a speech on the need for accreditation of hospitals to ensure quality. He explained the need of bypass surgery in women[71] and the need for the youth to take their health into consideration.[72][73]

Several workshops[74][75] on the various types of surgeries such as beating heart surgery and CPR have been conducted. He has also participated in many seminars on topics like ethics of health care[76] in many prestigious institutions. He addressed the academic session on heart transplantation at a CME programme[77] in Kottayam. He also presented a paper on the need of hospitals for women and children and a paper on hybrid perspective in the management of aortic aneurysm'.

The Forum for Growth, Development and Progress of Kochi honoured him for services.[78] He was also felicitated by the Lisie Hospital[79] and the Indian Medical Association.[80] He was also felicitated at the Piravom Boat race in 2011.[81][82]

Sudansu Bhattacharya performed a surgery on beating heart at the Lisie Heart Institute along with chief cardiac surgeon Jose Chacko Periappuram which was telecast live to the conference room at the Lisie Hospital, enabling over 25 cardiac surgeons from the state assembled there to discuss and clarify doubts.[83]

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

• "Jose Chacko Periappuram". ResearchGate. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.