Mathew Samuel Kalarickal (image: x.com/NarvekarMilind_)
Renowned cardiologist Mathew Samuel Kalarickal died on April 18, 2025, in Apollo Hospital in Chennai. He was 77. Kalarickal was known as the Father of Angioplasty in India.
Born in 1948 in Kerala’s Kottayam, he completed MBBS from Kottayam Medical College, and then finished his postgraduation and specialisation in cardiology in Chennai. He performed the first angioplasty in India in 1986. He played an influential role in setting up and founding angioplasty facilities in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.
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During the initial years of his career, he worked with Medistra Hospital in Jakarta and Royal Hospital in Muscat before shifting his practice to the US. In 1985, Dr. Kalarickal moved back to India from the US and started angioplasty work in the country. Began with the treatment of 18 patients in 1986, in the next year the number had increased to 150.
In the following years, Kalarickal travelled extensively across India to teach and train doctors. He had also helped countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia to develop angioplasty programmes.
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Dr Kalarickal was the recipient of a number of honours and awards including the Padma Shri (2000), Dr B.C. Roy Award (1996), and Doctor of Science by the Dr. M.G.R. Medical University (2003) and Lifetime Achievement Award (2008).
He has held the positions such as President, Asian-Pacific Society of Interventional Cardiology (1995-97) and Chairman of Interventional Cardiology, Asian-Pacific Society of Cardiology (1995-99). Dr Kalarickal was also the founder-convenor of the National Angioplasty Registry of India.
