Dr. Kirun Gopal

About Me

Dr. Kirun Gopal completed his MBBS from Kottayam Medical College in 2001. He then did his General Surgical residency at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal finishing in 2005. His Cardiac surgery training was from the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum finishing in 2009.
He then worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, Kottayam Medical College for 3 years.
Subsequently he went to the Cleveland Clinic, USA to do a 2 year fellowship in advanced adult cardiac surgery and a 1 year fellowship in aortic surgery. Here he had the opportunity to work with world leaders in cardiac and aortic surgery with exposure to latest advances in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, redo cardiac surgery, heart and lung transplantation, and complex open and endovascular aortic surgery.
After returning from the USA, he joined as Assistant Professor in Kottayam Medical College for 3 months before joining the faculty here at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences as Associate Professor.

Education and Professional Experience

• 2017 Jan – April – Assistant Professor CVTS, MCH Kottayam
• 2016-2017 – Aortic Fellow, Cleveland Clinic, USA
• 2014-2016 – Clinical Fellow, Adult cardiac surgery, Cleveland Clinic, USA
• 2010-2014 – Assistant Professor CVTS, MCH Kottayam
• 2007-2010 – Residency in CVTS, SCTIMST, Trivandrum
• 2006 – Registrar CVTS, SUT Hospital, Trivandrum
• 2002-2005 –Residency in General Surgery, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal
• 1995-2001 – MBBS, Kottayam Medical College

Publications

• Srimurugan B, Krishna N, Jose R, et al. Aortic root widening: “pro et contra”. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.2022;38:91–100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-020-01125-6
• Varma PK, Krishna N, Jose R, Gopal K, Ahamed H. Do alternative approaches work in surgical septal myectomy?. Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2022;30(1):84-91. doi:10.1177/02184923211025396
• Gopal K, Krishna N, Jose R, et al. Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cardiac Surgery Practice and Outcomes. J Chest Surg. 2022;55(1):61-68. https://doi.org/10.5090/jcs.21.125
• Gopal K, Mary A, Kulirankal KG. Multiple mural endocarditis in the setting of COVID-19. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2022 Jan 20:jeac007. doi: 10.1093/ehjci/jeac007. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35048947.
• Gopal K, Ahamed H, Jose R, Varma PK. Cardiac tamponade as a presentation of COVID-19 after cardiac surgery [published online ahead of print, 2021 Nov 23]. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2021;1-4. doi:10.1007/s12055-021-01270-6
• Valooran GJ, Gopal K, Jose R, Varma PK. Early outcomes of cardiac surgical patients who developed COVID 19 in the perioperative period – Results from an online survey. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-021-01242-w
• Gopal K, Vanga SB, Varma PK. Disappearing left atrial appendage clot-the need for a more meticulous search. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2021;37(4):467-468. doi:10.1007/s12055-021-01154-9
• Gopal K, Madathil T, Varma PK. Surgical challenges in retrieval of an embolizedtranscatheter valve from the aorta. Ann ThoracSurg (2021), doi: https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2021.02.024.
• Gopal K, Krishna N, Varma PK. Surgery for infective endocarditis—analysis of factors affecting outcome. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-021-01137-w
• Gopal K, Jose R, Jose RL, Varma PK. Repair of ascending aorta pseudoaneurysm presenting as a chest wall swelling. Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2021;29(3):226-226. doi:10.1177/0218492320965793
• Varma PK, Krishna N, Jose R, Gopal K, Ahamed H. “Do alternative approaches work in surgical septal myectomy?” Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2021 0(0) 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/02184923211025396
• Varma PK, Gopal K, Ahamed H, Vanga SB. Posterior mitral leaflet plication with extended septal myectomy for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-021-01213-1
• Srimurugan B, Krishna N, Jose R, et al. Aortic root widening: “pro et contra”. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-020-01125-6
• Varma PK, Ahmed H, Krishna N, et al. Bleeding complications after dual antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor versus dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel-a propensity-matched comparative study of two antiplatelet regimes in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2021;37(1):27-37. doi:10.1007/s12055-020-01052-6
• Gopal K, Chandrasekharan R, Varma PK. Flip-flopping atrial septal occluder in the heart [published online ahead of print, 2020 Nov 17]. Eur Heart J. 2020;ehaa950. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa950
• Gopal K., Varma PK. Cardiac surgery during the times of COVID-19. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-020-01006-y
• Chathoth V, Gopal K, Jose R, Padmanabhan M, Varma P. Endoscopic Radial Artery Harvesting. January 2020. doi:10.25373/ctsnet.11569743.
• Gopalakrishnan U, Mathew J, Gopal K, Rasheed R. Multi-organ retrieval in donation after brain stem death. Amrita J Med2020;16:95-9
• Gangadharan S, SundaramKR ,Vasudevan S , Ananthakrishnan B, Balachandran R, Cherian A, Varma PK ,et al. Predictors of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing Adult Cardiac Surgery. Ann Card Anaesth2018;21:448-54. DOI: 10.4103/aca.ACA_21_18.
• Misra S, Sinha PK, Koshy T, Sandhyamani S, Parija C, Gopal K. Accurate localization and echocardiographic-pathologic correlation of tricuspid valve angiolipoma by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. Echocardiography. 2009;26(10):1228-1231. doi:10.1111/j.1540-8175.2009.00997.x.
• Gadhinglajkar S, Sreedhar R, Gopalakrishnan SK, Sadiq A, Rao M, Gopal K. A left ventricular-to-right atrial shunt in a patient with a perimembranous ventricular septal defect: role of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. J CardiothoracVascAnesth. 2009;23(5):675-678. doi:10.1053/j.jvca.2008.12.005
• Gopal K, Raj A, Rajesh MR, Prabhu SK, Geothe J. Sternal tuberculosis after sternotomy for coronary artery bypass surgery: a case report and review of the literature. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2007;133(5):1365-1366. doi:10.1016/j.jtcvs.2007.01.022
• Kumar P, Gopal K, Ramnani S. Clinical forensic evidence in burns: rescuer burns. Burns. 2006;32(8):1032-1036. doi:10.1016/j.burns.2006.03.025
• Gopal K Neelakandhan K. Migrated Kirschner Wires In The Mediastinum: A Case Report And Review Of The Literature. The Internet Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2006 Volume 8 Number 2.
• Gopalakrishnan U, Mathew J, Gopal K, Rasheed R. Multi-organ retrieval in donation after brain stem death. Amrita J Med2020;16:95-9

Presentations

• Short and midterm outcomes of isolated off pump CABG- at IACTSCON 2022: the 67th Annual Conference of the IACTS -6-10 April 2022, Jaipur
• The Journey of Mitral Valve Repair – What do the guidelines say and do they say enough? – at the 5th Amrita Heart Conclave, December 2019, Kochi
• Mitral Valve Pathologies related to Mitral Regurgitation and the Functional Classification – at the St Jude Medical/Abbot Valve repair Module 1 Meeting, July 2019, Kochi
• Acute Aortic Syndrome and is there a need for an Aortic Center – presentation given as invited speaker at Thrissur Physicians Club, May 2019, Thrissur
• Early Surgical Intervention for Infective Endocarditis: Analysis of outcomes - as a poster presentation at the 65th Annual Conference of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeons, February 2019, Chennai
• Aortic Root: Anatomy, Genetics, Guidelines – Where do we stand now? at the 4th Amrita Heart Conclave, November 2018, Kochi
• Mind the Gap! Transitions in Care in an increasingly complex Cardiac Surgical Population at the Amrita Hospital Medicine Conclave, June 2018, Kochi
• Diet for Heart Health at the monthly COG Kochi meeting, May 2018, Kochi
• A case of Kommerells Diverticulum at the monthly Kochi Cardiothoracic Club, May 2018, Kochi
• Lessons learned from the MICS CABG Workshop at the 3rd Amrita Heart Conclave – MICS
• CABG, November 2017, Kochi
• Surgical Techniques in Tricuspid Valve Repair at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Society for Heart Failure and Transplantation, September 2017, Kozhikode
• Aortic Dissection Series from a Tertiary Hospital in South India at the 58th Annual Conference of Indian Association of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeons, February 2012, Kolkata
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation at the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club, Kottayam, December 2011
• Heart Surgery at the annual district seminar meeting of Rotary Club, Kollam, July, 2011
• ACLS guidelines at the monthly meeting of Kottayam Surgical Club, April 2011
• Simultaneous Revascularisation of Lower Limbs and Bowel from Novel Inflow Source as a Poster Presentation at the IACTS National Conference, Mahabalipuram, February 2011
• Chest Trauma at the Trauma CME conducted at Matha Hospital, Kottayam, November 2010
• Unusual Cause of Pulmonary Venous Chamber Obstruction Post Senning Procedure as a poster presentation at the PCSI National Conference, Cochin, October 2008

Professional Memberships

• Indian Medical Association
• Association of Surgeons of India

Areas of Intersest

• Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery
• Heart and Lung Transplantation
• Open and endovascular aortic surgery