Mathew Samuel Kalarickal (6 January 1948 – 18 April 2025) was an Indian cardiologist widely known as the father of

angioplasty Angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, is a minimally invasive procedure, minimally invasive endovascular surgery, endovascular Medical procedure, procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructe ...

in India.Navigation News , Frontline
/ref> He specialised in coronary angioplasty, carotid stenting, coronary stenting and rotablator atherectomy.

Early life

Kalarickal was born on 6 January 1948 in Kottayam, Travancore (now in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

). He studied at Union Christian College, Aluva. Subsequently, he obtained his MBBS degree from Government Medical College, Kottayam in 1974, his MD from Stanley Medical College,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

(then called Madras) in 1978 and his DM in 1981 from Madras Medical College, Chennai.

Career

After starting his career in India, Kalarickal moved to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

to work at Medistra Hospital. Later, he moved to

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

to work as a cardiologist at the Royal Hospital,

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

. He continued his practice in the United States only to return to India in 1985 after training there under Andreas Grüntzig, who was known as the father of coronary angioplasty, and joined Apollo Hospitals in Chennai.

Positions held

Kalarickal was the Director, Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratories, Apollo Hospitals,

. He was also a visiting Interventional Cardiologist at hospitals in different parts of India. He was the founder-convenor of the National Angioplasty Registry of India, which is a forum for interventional cardiologists of the country to learn from each other, streamline the standard of procedure and maintain international standards. Kalarickal was the President, Asian-Pacific Society of Interventional Cardiology, from 1995 to 1997 and Chairman of Interventional Cardiology, Asian-Pacific Society of Cardiology, from 1995 to 1999.

Death

Kalarickal died at Apollo Hospital in Chennai on 18 April 2025, at the age of 77.

Awards and recognitions

* Doctor of Science Award by the Dr. M.G.R. University in 2003 * Padmashri by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

in 2000 * Dr. B. C. Roy Award in Interventional Cardiology in 1996 * "Rashtriya Samman" (top tax payers award) in 2000
/ref>

Early life

Career

Positions held

Death

Awards and recognitions

References

Further reading