Dr. M.S. Valiathan leaves behind a legacy of medical innovation

Renowned cardiac surgeon and founder of SCTIMST, Dr. Marthanda Varma Valiathan, passed away, leaving behind a legacy of medical innovation.

Dr. Marthanda Varma Sankaran Valiathan, renowned cardiac surgeon and the founder-director of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), passed away in Manipal on July 17 at 9.14 p.m. He was 90.

Known as Dr. M.S. Valiathan, his remarkable career as a cardiac surgeon and his significant contributions to laying the foundation for the nation’s Indigenous medical technology development are written in golden letters throughout history.

He was instrumental in establishing SCTIMST as an institute of national importance in 1976. He headed the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery for twenty years from the inception of SCTIMST till May 1994.

One of the highlights of his long career at SCTIMST and a flagship enterprise of the Institute, was the Indigenous development of the first-ever mechanical heart valve prosthesis of the nation, the TTK-Chitra valve — a product of 12 years of his labour of love. Dr. Valiathan himself and his team implanted the first valve at SCTIMST in 1990.

To date, the Chitra Heart Valve Prosthesis stands as a true testament to an Indigenous, resource-intensive and cost-effective biomedical device in the nation. The low-cost, fully-indigenous mechanical valve has since been a life-saver for millions of poor in India who suffered heart valve damage at a young age due to rheumatic heart disease. SCTIMST later developed advanced versions of the Chitra valve.

Dr. Valiathan was a proud alumnus of the very first batch of Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram, the oldest Medical College in Kerala. He later attended the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England, and in 1960 was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and England and a Masters in Surgery from the University of Liverpool. After a brief stint as a faculty member at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, he further trained in cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins, George Washington, and Georgetown University Hospitals, USA, Chandigarh.

Former president of the Indian National Science Academy and National Research Professor, Dr. Valiathan was also the first Vice-Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE).