Obituary [PDF]157
Professor Nagarur Gopinath, MS, FAMS, FNA
(13 November 1922–3 June 2007)
 On
3 June 2007, India lost one of its most outstanding sons—a
pioneer of Cardiothoracic Surgery—Professor Nagarur Gopinath.
Born on 13 November 1922 at Bellary in Karnataka, he received
his medical education at the Madras Medical College, Chennai.
He was initiated into Cardiothoracic Surgery during a short
stint with the Indian Army Medical Corps, but his love for the
discipline was truly nurtured at the Christian Medical College
(CMC), Vellore, which he joined in 1951 to work with Professor
Reeve H. Betts. In 1957, he was awarded a Rockefeller
Foundation Fellowship to work with Professor C. W. Lillehei at
the University of Minnesotta, USA.
Back at CMC Vellore, his hard work and
dedication led him to succeed his mentor, Professor Betts as
Professor and Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic
Surgery. It was here that he performed the first successful
open heart surgery in India in 1962, besides pioneering
surgery for rheumatic heart disease and implantation of
cardiac pacemakers. By this time, he was already recognized as
one of the pioneers of cardiac surgery along with Drs P. K.
Sen, A. K. Basu and S. S. Anand. It is not surprising that in
1964 he was selected to head the Department of Cardiothoracic
Surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),
New Delhi.
Unlike at CMC Vellore, where he left a
fully functioning department, at AIIMS he had the daunting
task of establishing a department befitting the expectations
of a national institution virtually from scratch. He did this
in the shortest possible time. He was able to begin a much
sought-after clinical service, a postgraduate training
programme and a centre for open heart surgery. With his well
recognized professional stature and his legendary dedication
to patient care, he was able to attract extramural grants to
enhance the working conditions of his department. The two
grants that need special mention are those from the Swedish
International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Department of
Science and Technology, Government of India. Ultimately,
through his persistent efforts, AIIMS approved the
establishment of a full-fledged Cardiothoracic Centre which he
planned with meticulous care. It is worth mentioning that he
did all this fully conscious of the fact that he might not be
able to utilize the facilities for which he had toiled so
hard. As a matter of fact, when he superannuated in 1982, even
the first phase of the centre was not functional. Yet it goes
to his credit that the Centre is now an unparalleled
institution and provides the highest quality of service to the
poorest of the poor, training for the brightest and research
of a high order. Thanks to one of his students, it is the only
centre in the country to successfully perform cardiac
transplants.
During his service of less than 2 decades at AIIMS,
Professor Gopinath trained over 60 cardiothoracic and vascular
surgeons. The list of his students is a ‘who’s who’ of cardiac
surgeons in India. Lest it be forgotten, let me add that
besides his efforts to promote his specialty, he played a
seminal role in enhancing the overall quality of AIIMS and in
particular the parallel development of the Neurosciences
Centre. As a token of its appreciation, AIIMS made him an
Emeritus Professor and later instituted an Annual Oration in
his honour.
Professor Gopinath was equally active at
the national level through his services to the Indian
Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons, first as
its General Secretary and later as its President. In
recognition of his services the Association honoured him with
a lifetime achievement award.
His unbounded energy and spirit of service
prompted him to create another institution after his
superannuation from AIIMS—the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of
Science and Research, New Delhi, which has come to acquire a
unique position in providing quality healthcare at reasonable
cost.
One of the earliest papers published by
Professor Gopinath in the Indian Journal of Medical
Research in 1952 heralded the birth of thoracic surgery in
India and his lifelong involvement with research. He
recognized the entity of juvenile mitral stenosis, and
elaborated on its clinicopathological features and management.
He studied the microanatomy of the aortic valve and later
helped establish a human and animal heart valve bank at AIIMS.
Later on his interest shifted to preventive cardiology.
Starting with an epidemiological study of coronary artery
disease, he studied its pathogenesis, and the role of
nutrition and antioxidants in its modulation. This remained
his passionate research interest till the last days of his
life. He published a large number of papers, the first in
1953. He was the recipient of a fellowship of the National
Science Foundation, USA to visit and exchange views with
cardiovascular surgeons there and was invited to be a Visiting
Professor to Stanford University, USA.
Self-sacrificing, deeply religious, endowed
with the highest qualities of head and heart, Professor
Gopinath was ever willing to help others—his patients, his
students, his friends—for all of whom he was a pillar of
strength. Consumed with the desire to strive for excellence,
he spared neither himself, nor his students and colleagues. In
this quest he was undeterred by obstacles, opposition or
failure. For him a cause was more important than self.
Position, power or wealth had little attraction for him.
Devoted to his family in the true Indian tradition, he
believed in simple living. He possessed an uncanny sense of
humour and wit. As one of his most famous students, Professor
P. Venugopal, Director, AIIMS, recently remarked, ‘To call
Professor Gopinath a legend or icon will be an understatement
as he was an institution by himself.’
Professor Gopinath was elected a Fellow of
the National Academy of Medical Sciences and was one of the
very few clinicians to be elected a Fellow of the Indian
National Science Academy. He was Honorary Surgeon to two
Presidents of India and a recipient of the Padma Shri.
Professor Gopinath is survived by his loving wife, two sons
and a daughter. He has also left behind, in the form of a
lasting legacy, the students he trained and the two
institutions he created.
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