THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cardiology department at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) celebrated its golden jubilee at the AMC Auditorium.
Inaugurating the event on Saturday, SCTIMST director Dr Sanjay Behari highlighted the department’s journey as one of sustained commitment to clinical excellence and academic rigour.
“The cardiology department at Sree Chitra has consistently combined patient-centric care with innovation and high-quality training, nurturing generations of cardiologists who now serve across India and abroad. Ethical practice and scientific integrity have remained its enduring strengths,” he said.
Dr. Harikrishnan S, senior professor and cardiology HOD, reflected on the department’s pivotal role in advancing cardiology in India over the past five decades, while continuing to inspire future generations. “The golden jubilee is not merely a celebration of longevity, but of a shared legacy built on clinical excellence, research, innovation, and patient-centric care,” he said.
The inaugural session featured addresses by former directors Dr Ajit Kumar V K and Dr Jagan Mohan Tharakan, former HOD Dr K G Balakrishnan, senior faculty member Dr Narayanan Namboodiri K K, SCTIMST president Kris Gopalakrishnan, Prof Abhay Karandikar, secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Sunil Kumar, head of Autonomous Institutions at DST, and Dr Harikrishnan S.
The celebrations brought together senior clinicians, alumni, policymakers, and young cardiologists from across India and abroad. As part of the golden jubilee, alumni awards and thesis awards were presented to recognise outstanding contributions by former students and young researchers. A special segment, ‘Down the Memory Lane’, traced the department’s five-decade journey and its landmark achievements.
Ahead of the jubilee celebration, a national cardiology conference was also held as part of the three-day programme ‘Back to Basics - 2026’, which began on Friday. The workshops featured intensive simulator-based training in coronary, structural, paediatric, and electrophysiology interventions. Sessions included radial and femoral PCI techniques, pacemaker implantation, rotablation, intracoronary imaging, physiological assessment, and virtual 3D CT-based cardiac anatomy, alongside interactive case discussions.
Saturday’s sessions, coinciding with the jubilee inauguration, focused on angiography and haemodynamics in congenital heart disease, fundamentals of cardiac catheterisation, percutaneous coronary interventions, transcatheter valve therapies, and ECG interpretation. These were complemented by hands-on simulator training in advanced devices and complication management.
The concluding day will feature coronary intervention strategies such as primary PCI and chronic total occlusion techniques, advanced imaging, electrophysiology basics, congenital defect closures, and structured approaches to preventing and managing procedural complications.