Dr. K. R. Balakrishnan

Qualification: MS, M.Ch (Cardio Thoracic)
Current Position: Director – Cardiac Sciences | Chief Cardiothoracic & Transplant Surgeon at MGM Healthcare, Chennai, India
Adjunct Professor: Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India Experience: Over 35 years & 350 Successful Heart Transplantations

Dr. K R Balakrishnan is an acknowledged expert in the management of End- Stage Heart & Lung Failure and credited with India’s First LVAD and HVAD pump implant as destination therapy. He heads the largest heart & Lung Transplant programme in India and are of the largest in Asia doing close to 40-50 Heart & Lung Transplants annually. He is instrumental in starting India’s First Comprehensive Centre for Heart Failure Management in Chennai. He is also actively engaged with various institutions to develop Pulsatile and continuous flow LVADs (Left Ventricular Assist Device) and molecular biology of ventricular hypertrophy.

Apart from this, he has an extensive expertise in treating complex Congenital Heart Disease like switches in infancy, repair of TAPVR, common AV Canal and in use of Homograft conduits arterial. He also performs other routine cardiac surgeries such as Valvular Heart procedures including repair & replacement, aortic root replacement and Ross procedure.

Education & Fellowships

• M.Ch (Cardiothoracic Surgery) – KEM Hospital, University of Bombay | 1982
• MS (General Surgery) – AIIMS, New Delhi | 1980
• MBBS – JIPMER, Pondicherry | 1976

Professional Highlights

• India’s first successful HVAD implant surgery, 2013
• India’s first successful LVAD implant surgery as destination therapy, 2012
• Worked with Sir Brian Barratt- Boyes, Green Lane Hospital, New Zealand
• Worked with Dr. Albert Starr at Oregon Health Science University and St. Vincent Hospital, Oregon, USA
• Dual poppet heart valve : Co- inventor alongwith Dr. Albert Starr of a new model heart valve prosthesis. U.S. patent

Awards & Honors

• Awarded a distinction in M.Ch which was first ever awarded by Bombay University in Cardio Thoracic Speciality
• Hiralal gold medal in surgery, AIIMS, New Delhi, 1980

Special Areas of Interest

• End- stage heart failure management (Heart Transplant & VAD implant)
• Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
• Lung Transplant
• Heart & Lung Transplant

Awards and Recognitions:

• Dr K R Balakrishnan was awarded the First Prize in surgery (1976) by the Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, India. He also stood first in the area of Obstetrics and Gynecology(1976) and Medicine, awarded by the University of Madras.
• He received the HiralalGold Medal in Surgery awarded by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
• Dr. K R Balakrishnan ranked first in Cardiothoracic Board finals, University of Bombay which was the first distinction ever to be awarded by the university in this specialty.
• Recently, Dr. K R Balakrishnan was awarded the Double Helical National Health Award, 2017 for Pioneering work in Heart Transplant Surgery in India
• Dr. K R Balakrishnan has been delivering his lectures as Chief Speaker in various prestigious International Conferences on Heart & Lung Transplantation in different parts the world & presenting the clinical excellences. He has presented his lectures & clinical work in France, USA, New Zealand, Singapore, Jordan, UAE, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Bangladesh, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi & many more.
• Dr. K R Balakrishnan has been associated with many Ministry of Health, i.e. Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, UAE, etc to treat their Heart & Lung Failure cases both Pediatric & Adult & also with Ministry of Health, Palestine where he has been actively visiting Palestine for Free Cardiac Mission to treat poor Palestinian children from West Bank & Gaza.
• Dr. K R Balakrishnan’s initial medical years were spent as a Senior Registrar to Sir Brian Baratt-Boyes, at the Cardio Thoracic Unit, Green Lane Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. From 1987 to 1988 he was a Fellow in Cardiac surgery at the Oregon Health Sciences, University and St. Vincent Hospital.
• He then worked in Portland, Oregon, with Dr. Albert Starr from 1989 to 1990. Then he moved to Madras (now known as Chennai) where he worked at the Railway Hospital, Perambur as Specialist Cardiac Surgeon from June 1990 to August 1994.

Research & Publications

• Images in cardiovascular medicine. Role of inflammation in atherosclerosis: immunohistochemical and electron microscopic images of a coronary endarterectomy specimen. Balakrishnan KR, Kuruvilla S. Circulation. 2006 Jan 24;113(3):e41- 3. PMID: 16432060 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Modified septosuperior approach for the repair of supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous return in infants, Balakrishnan KR, Parvathy U. Ann Thorac Surg. 2005 Sep;80(3):1140- 2. PMID: 16122518 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Influence of lumen shape and vessel geometry on plaque stresses: possible role in the increased vulnerability of a remodelled vessel and the “shoulder” of a plaque. Kumar RK, Balakrishnan KR. Heart. 2005 Nov;91(11):1459- 65. Epub 2005 Mar 17. PMID: 15774611 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Pseudoaneurysm of the popliteal artery. Surgical management of 3 cases. Parvathy U, Saldanha R, Balakrishnan KR. J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino). 2005 Feb;46(1):43- 6. PMID: 15758876 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Severe coronary artery disease with coarctation of the aorta: role of off- pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Balakrishnan KR, Thanikachalam S, Murthy JS, Saldanha R, Jayarajah M. Ann Thorac Surg. 2005 Jan;79(1):343- 5. PMID: 15620979 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Surgical closure of atrial septal defect in children under two years of age. Parvathy U, Balakrishnan KR, Ranjith MS, Saldanha R, Vakamudi M. Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2004 Dec;12(4):296- 9. PMID: 15585696 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Further insights into normal aortic valve function: role of a compliant aortic root on leaflet opening and valve orifice area.Sripathi VC, Kumar RK, Balakrishnan KR, Ann Thorac Surg. 2004 Mar;77(3):844- 51.
• Blunt abdominal trauma resulting in urinothorax from a missed uretero- pelvic junction avulsion: case report. Parvathy U, Saldanha R, Balakrishnan KR. J Trauma. 2003 Jan;54(1):187- 9. PMID: 12544917 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Dynamic analysis of the aortic valve using a finite element model.Gnyaneshwar R, Kumar RK, Balakrishnan KR, Ann Thorac Surg. 2002 Apr;73(4):1122- 9. PMID: 11996252 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• False aneurysm following modified Blalock- Taussig shunt. Parvathy U, Balakrishnan KR, Ranjith MS, Moorthy JS. Pediatr Cardiol. 2002 Mar- Apr;23(2):178-81. Epub 2002 Feb 19. PMID: 11889530 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• A Case of Ball Valve Thrombus. Thanikachalam S, Sengottuvel G, George S, Kumar MS, Shivakumar RV, Balakrishnan KR, Murthy JS. Echocardiography. 1999 Feb;16(2):143- 145. PMID: 11175132 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher Surgical experience with congenital heart disease in Down’s syndrome. Parvathy U,
• Balakrishnan KR, Ranjith MS, Saldanha R, Sai S, Vakamudi M. Indian Heart J. 2000 Jul- Aug;52(4):438- 41. PMID: 11084787 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Bi- directional Glenn with a modified Damus- Kaye- Stansel procedure–an alternative technique for transposition of great arteries, intact ventricular septum with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Parvathy U, Balakrishnan KR, Ranjith MS. Indian Heart J. 1998 Sep- Oct;50(5):554- 6. PMID: 10052286 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Primary intracardiac yolk sac tumor. Parvathy U, Balakrishnan KR, Ranjit MS, Kuruvilla S, Rao KR. Pediatr Cardiol. 1998 Nov- Dec;19(6):495- 7. PMID: 9770582 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Warm cardioplegia in cardiac transplantation. Balakrishnan KR, Saldanha R, Sai S, Suresh K, Parvathy U. Ann Thorac Surg. 1997 Nov;64(5):1518. PMID: 9386747 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Noncardioplegic myocardial protection for CABG deserves a second look. Koppula AS, Jagannath BR, Balakrishnan KR, Gupta CM. Ann Thorac Surg. 1997 Mar;63(3):914- 5. PMID: 9066441 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE
• Isolated bilateral coronary ostial stenosis with complete obstruction of the left main artery. Koppula AS, Koppalla MM, Abraham KA, Balakrishnan KR. Ann Thorac Surg. 1995 Mar;59(3):785- 6. PMID: 7887742 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Aortic root enlargement by Manouguian’s technique. Bhutani AK, Dev K, Gupta CH, Abraham KA, Desai RN, Balakrishnan KR. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1994 Oct;108(4):788. PMID: 7934119 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
• Inadvertent transection of anomalously arising left anterior descending artery during tetralogy of Fallot repair: bypass grafting with left internal mammary artery. Bhutani AK, Koppala MM, Abraham KA, Balakrishnan KR, Desai RN. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1994 Sep;108(3):589- 90. PMID: 8078355 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]