K. A. Abraham | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 22 October 2021 79) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | (aged
Occupation | Cardiologist |
Known for | Interventional cardiology |
Awards | Padma Shri |
Kurudamannil Abraham Abraham (14 March 1942 – 22 October 2021) was an Indian interventional cardiologist and a medical writer. [1] [2] [3] He was a Chief Cardiologist at the Southern Railway Headquarters Hospital, Chennai, and Chief Medical Director of the Southern Railways, where he worked for 25 years. [4]
He graduated from the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore and started his career by joining the Indian Army, serving the Forces during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Resuming his studies after the war, he received a degree in internal medicine and returned to Christian Medical College and Hospital in 1973. In 1978, he moved to Perambur to join the Southern Railway Headquarters Hospital, Chennai where he worked till his superannuation from government service in 2002. [4] During his tenure, the hospital is reported to have grown to become a referral hospital which carries out over 1000 open heart surgeries every year. [4]
Dr Abraham served as the Director of Medical Service at Apollo Specialty Hospitals, Vanagaram, Chennai till his death. [5] [6]
After his retirement from Perambur, Abraham worked as the Head of the Department of Cardiology at Fortis Malar Hospital [7] and as a consultant cardiologist at Apollo Hospital, Chennai. [8] He published several articles in peer reviewed national and international journals. [9] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri, in 1999. [10]
A ventricle is one of two large chambers located toward the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs. The blood pumped by a ventricle is supplied by an atrium, an adjacent chamber in the upper heart that is smaller than a ventricle. Interventricular means between the ventricles, while intraventricular means within one ventricle.
Echocardiography, also known as cardiac ultrasound, is the use of ultrasound to examine the heart. It is a type of medical imaging, using standard ultrasound or Doppler ultrasound. The visual image formed using this technique is called an echocardiogram, a cardiac echo, or simply an echo.
The Fontan procedure or Fontan–Kreutzer procedure is a palliative surgical procedure used in children with univentricular hearts. It involves diverting the venous blood from the inferior vena cava (IVC) and superior vena cava (SVC) to the pulmonary arteries. The procedure varies for differing congenital heart pathologies. For example, in tricuspid atresia, the procedure can be done where the blood does not pass through the morphologic right ventricle; i.e., the systemic and pulmonary circulations are placed in series with the functional single ventricle. By contrast, in hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the heart is more reliant on the more functional right ventricle to provide blood flow to the systemic circulation. The procedure was initially performed in 1968 by Francis Fontan and Eugene Baudet from Bordeaux, France, published in 1971, simultaneously described in July 1971 by Guillermo Kreutzer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, presented at the Argentinean National Cardilogy meeting of that year and finally published in 1973.
In cardiology, T wave alternans (TWA) is a periodic beat-to-beat variation in the amplitude or shape of the T wave in an electrocardiogram . TWA was first described in 1908. At that time, only large variations could be detected. Those large TWAs were associated with increased susceptibility to lethal ventricular tachycardias.
The Norwood procedure is the first of three palliative surgeries for patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and other complex heart defects with single ventricle physiology intended to create a new functional single ventricle system. The first successful Norwood procedure involving the use of a cardiopulmonary bypass was reported by Dr. William Imon Norwood, Jr. and colleagues in 1981.
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a minimally invasive non-surgical procedure used to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary artery disease. The procedure is used to place and deploy coronary stents, a permanent wire-meshed tube, to open narrowed coronary arteries. PCI is considered 'non-surgical' as it uses a small hole in a peripheral artery (leg/arm) to gain access to the arterial system; an equivalent surgical procedure would involve the opening of the chest wall to gain access to the heart area. The term 'coronary angioplasty with stent' is synonymous with PCI. The procedure visualises the blood vessels via fluoroscopic imaging and contrast dyes. PCI is performed by an interventional cardiologists in a catheterization laboratory setting.
Disopyramide is an antiarrhythmic medication used in the treatment of ventricular tachycardia. It is a sodium channel blocker and is classified as a Class 1a anti-arrhythmic agent. Disopyramide has a negative inotropic effect on the ventricular myocardium, significantly decreasing the contractility. Disopyramide also has general anticholinergic effects which contribute to unwanted adverse effects. Disopyramide is available in both oral and intravenous forms. In 1972, when it was one of the only alternatives to quinidine, it was praised for being more potent and somewhat less toxic. However, a 2012 review of antiarrhythmic drugs noted that disopyramide is among the most toxic agents, with a high burden of side effects and increased mortality when used to treat atrial fibrillation.
Still's murmur is a common type of benign or "innocent" functional heart murmur that is not associated with any sort of cardiac disorder or any other medical condition. It can occur at any age although it is most common among children two to seven years of age and it is rare in adulthood.
Avijit Lahiri is a researcher in cardiology in the UK.
Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCC) is a rare congenital disease of heart muscle that affects both children and adults. It results from abnormal prenatal development of heart muscle.
Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a disorder of the heart muscle in people with diabetes. It can lead to inability of the heart to circulate blood through the body effectively, a state known as heart failure(HF), with accumulation of fluid in the lungs or legs. Most heart failure in people with diabetes results from coronary artery disease, and diabetic cardiomyopathy is only said to exist if there is no coronary artery disease to explain the heart muscle disorder.
Hypoplastic right heart syndrome (HRHS) is a congenital heart defect in which the structures on the right side of the heart, particularly the right ventricle, are underdeveloped. This defect causes inadequate blood flow to the lungs, and thus a cyanotic infant.
Management of heart failure requires a multimodal approach. It involves a combination of lifestyle modifications, medications, and possibly the use of devices or surgery. It may be noted that treatment can vary across continents and regions.
The Bidhan Chandra Roy Award is an award instituted in 1962 in memory of Dr. B. C. Roy by the Medical Council of India. It is presented by the President of India in New Delhi every year on July 1, National Doctors' Day. It is also the highest honour that can be achieved by a doctor in India.
Primary ventricular fibrillation (PVF) is an unpredictable and potentially fatal arrhythmia occurring during the acute phase of a myocardial infarction leading to immediate collapse and, if left untreated, leads to sudden cardiac death within minutes. In developed countries, PVF is a leading cause of death. Worldwide, the annual number of deaths caused by PVF is comparable to the number of deaths caused by road traffic accidents. A substantial portion of these deaths could be avoided by seeking immediate medical attention when symptoms are noticed.
Cardiac contractility modulation is a therapy which is intended for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe heart failure with symptoms despite optimal medical therapy who can benefit from an improvement in cardiac output. The short- and long-term use of this therapy enhances the strength of ventricular contraction and therefore the heart's pumping capacity by modulating (adjusting) the myocardial contractility. This is provided by a pacemaker-like device that applies non-excitatory electrical signals adjusted to and synchronized with the electrical action in the cardiac cycle.
Southern Railway Headquarters Hospital, also known as the Perambur railway hospital, is a 500-bed hospital of the Southern Railway located in Ayanavaram, Chennai. It is spread across a land measuring 15 acres (6.1 ha) and was established during the British rule in India. The hospital has specialized in 15 basic disciplines and super-specialized in 3 disciplines. The National Board of Examination (NBE) has accredited the hospital for recognition in postgraduate training. The hospital has also been accredited by international institutions such as Royal College of Surgeons for imparting training in PG courses. It is also an approved institution for training nurses.
Mathew Samuel Kalarickal is an Indian cardiologist widely known as the father of angioplasty in India. He specializes in coronary angioplasty, carotid stenting, coronary stenting and rotablator atherectomy.
Francisco ("Paco") Torrent-Guasp (Gandia, 1931 - Madrid, 2005). was a Spanish cardiologist whose research focused on the anatomy and physiology of the human heart. His work led to the discovery and description of the ventricular myocardial band. His work can be found in reference books on anatomy and cardiac surgery.
Giovanni J. Ughi, engineer and scientist, is one of the inventors of multimodality optical coherence tomography (OCT) and Laser-induced fluorescence molecular imaging, pioneering a first-in-man study of coronary arteries during his work at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The results of his work, combining two imaging technologies, may better identify dangerous coronary plaques, responsible for coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction.