Jose Chacko Periappuram (born 28 April 1958) is an Indian

cardiac surgeon Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to cor ...

and medical writer who performed the first successful

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common proce ...

in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India, as well as the first successful heart retransplant in the country. His other achievements include the first beating heart, awake bypass and total arterial revascularization surgeries in the state. Periappuram is a fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

, the

Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, it originally exis ...

and the

Royal College of Surgeons of London The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

. He is the founder and chairman of "Heart Care Foundation", a charitable trust that financially assists poor heart patients. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

awarded him the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2011.

Early life

Jose Chacko Periappuram was born in

South Paravur South Paravur is a small village near Udayamperoor, India. It is part of Kanayannur taluk of Ernakulam district. Its name distinguishes it from the North Paravur, town with the same name in the northern end of Ernakulam district. Vembanad la ...

, a small village in

Ernakulam district Ernakulam, ; ISO: ''Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ'', in Malayalam: എറണാകുളം), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, that takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part o ...

of the Indian state of

, born to P. M. Chacko and Mary Chacko. His father was a

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

who is credited with the discovery two plant species and served as principal at St. Thomas College, Pala from 1979 to 1984. Fr. Abel, the founder chairman of

Kalabhavan Kalabhavan ( lit. "The House of Arts"), also known as Cochin Kalabhavan, is a centre for learning performing arts in Kochi, India. ''Kalabhavan'' is notable and known for being the first organized performing mimicry group in Kerala and which p ...

, was his paternal uncle. 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. He passed

MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

from Govt. Medical College, Kottayam in 1985 and after a year of senior house surgeon at the Kottayam Medical College, he proceeded to the United Kingdom for post-graduate education and training. He completed his

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

part 1 from the

Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland's first private university. It was established in 1784 ...

in Dublin in 1986 and completed his general surgical training from various hospitals in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. This included the County Hospital, Roscommon, Our Lady's Hospital, Drogheda, and the Mater Misericordiae Hospital at Dublin. He passed his

from the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in the year 1992. His higher cardiac surgical training was mainly at the

University Hospital of Wales University Hospital of Wales ( cy, Ysbyty Athrofaol Cymru) (UHW), also known as the Heath Hospital, is a major 1,000-bed hospital in the Heath district of Cardiff, Wales. UHW is a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine. Constr ...

and

Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...

and passed the

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 Royal Papworth Hospital is a specialist heart and lung hospital, located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridgeshire, England. The Hospital is run by Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital is a world-leading cardiot ...

Heart transplants

On his return to Kerala, Periappuram joined

Medical Trust Hospital Medical Trust Hospital is a "super speciality" hospital located at Kochi in Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populou ...

, Kochi, where on 13 May, 2003 a team led by Periappuram performed the first heart transplantation in the state of Kerala, thus making it the third state in India to achieve this feat. He performed a second heart transplant the following year. On 6 March 2014, Periappuram at Lisie Hospital, Kochi became the first cardiac surgeon to conduct a successful heart re-transplant in India when a patient who had already received a transplant developed a heart valve infection a few months later.

Other surgical achievements

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. Another group of patients who, due to lung diseases, could not have their surgeries done were helped by a novel technique called awake bypass surgery.

Heart Care Foundation

His charitable trust called the Heart Care Foundation 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. The Heart Care Foundation has multiple projects in operation. They have donated organs to various Government Medical College Hospitals. They have also conducted charity runs and mini-

marathons The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

and have organised the

World Heart Day The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

countless times. One such project aims to help 1000 patients undergo heart surgeries over 10 years at various Government Hospitals in Kerala. "Save a heart, save a life" is focused on educating people about the importance of

Basic Life Support Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers (paramedics, nurses, physicians). It can be pr ...

(BLS).

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...

(CPR) will be shown and taught to small groups all around

so that the life support at basic level can be affected in times of need to save lives. They also publish a quarterly publication of the Heart Care Foundation called "Caring Hearts" which carries extensive information about heart diseases, its prevention, causes, and tips and also covers the progress of the activities of Heart Care foundation's activities on a regular basis. Their efforts have led to implementation of AED devices in the Cochin airport. Heart Care Foundation organised a musical evening 'Hridyam' in connection with the release of the educational audio video album 'Mi Corazon" aimed at educating people about organ donation, basic life support and also to inculcate charity among young minds. to spread awareness on CPR and heart disease emergencies.

Positions held

* Consultant and Head of Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Lisie Heart Institute, 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 * An executive committee member of the Indian Cardio-Vascular Association for three years from 2005 to 2008

Awards

Mother Teresa Award Mother Teresa of Kolkata has been memorialized throughout the world in recognition of her work with the poor. During her lifetime this commemoration often took the form of awards and honorary degrees bestowed upon her. She has also been memorialized ...

, 2003 *

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

Award,

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, 2006 *

award 2011

Books

Besides the numerous medical and non-medical articles that have been published, he has presented a large number of clinical studies at the various national conferences. He has also written an educational book about heart diseases in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

called 'HRIDAYAM' (The Heart).

Other

He spoke on the need for coordination between hospitals with elaborate heart care departments at a press meeting on an uncommon multiple surgery 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 and the need for the youth to take their health into consideration. Several workshops 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 in many prestigious institutions. He addressed the academic session on heart transplantation at a CME programme 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'. 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Periappuram, Jose Chacko 1958 births People from Ernakulam district University of Kerala alumni Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine Indian cardiac surgeons 20th-century Indian medical doctors Scientists from Kerala 20th-century surgeons