Great indian neurosurgeon

2.  For many this is only a news item
of a 90 year old man passing
away.
 But then Dr KV Mathai was not
just another very old man.
 A great neurosurgeon, a brilliant
researcher and a humble person

3. This man should have been in the lime light in Kerala
Neurosurgical firmament, but as usually happens for
other Keralites, even people in the Neurosurgical field
have forgotten him (or many of them have not even
heard about him!)

4.  Son of Kuriyannur Late K M Varghese.
 He was initiated into medicine in an unusual manner
 After passing his BSc he tried to get an admission for
MSc.
 Got selected in a North Indian University for MSc but
for obscure reason this admission was cancelled.
 He took up a job as lecturer in a Kottayam ,that time his
father got a letter from CMC Vellore enclosing
application form for MBBS admission which Mathai
didn’t apply then.

5.  Couple of years ago his father sent a letter inquiring
about a medical seat for his son in an all-women
Medical College Vellore.
 The reply came after that much of lapse when they
decided to admit a few boys also on a trial basis.
 He was one of 10 boys admitted that year (along with
25 girls) in 1947
 Even during his undergraduate days he became an
ardent admirer of Dr. Jacob Chandy who returned
from USA in 1949.

6.  He was spotted by Chandy during
his neurology posting in the
Department as a third year medical
student, as a likely candidate to take
up neurosurgery as a career.
 They developed a personal and
professional equation that worked
well for the Department and the
specialty in CMC.
 Mathai worked in the Department
as a house surgeon for 1-year during
1953–1954.
 After finishing his M.S. General
Surgery training, he worked for
1-year in neuropathology from April
1957 to March 1958.

7.  He joined the clinical residency program in April 1958.
 This was the year M.S. Neurosurgery was started in
Madras University and Mathai was the first candidate
to register.
 He completed M.S. Neurosurgery in March 1961.
 In 1961 Dr. K. V. Mathai( CMC Vellore) became the first
to get an M.S. Neurosurgery degree in the country,
from Madras university. (then the degree was MS
Neurosurgery and not MCh Neurosurgery)

8.  Dr. Jacob Chandy insisted that he should have some more
training in Neurology and sent him to US.
 It was during the post war period and Mathai landed in US
army and was posted in a far off station- of all the places,
Guam Islands and later at the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda
 The US Army was conducting major researches on the high
prevalence of Parkinsonism- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
– Dementia syndrome in those places.
 It was a great time with internationally acclaimed neuro
epidemilogist like Dr. Leonard T Kurland (1922- 2001) and
neuropathologist like Dr. Asao Hirano 1926- .

9.  He had a large series of patients with
meningiomas and arteriovenous
malformations, both of which were
unfortunately never published.
 He was meticulous in everything
that he did.
 He would always look dapper in his
full sleeve shirt and tie and would be
well groomed even when he showed
up for an emergency surgery at odd
hours of the night.
 He was a great teacher.
 He was extremely patient and rarely
lost his temper.
Rajshekhar V. History of neurosurgery at Christian Medical College, Vellore: A
pioneer's tale . Neurol India 2016;64:297-310.

10.  Since his returnin 1963, he
continued in the Department of
neurosurgery,CMC in October
1986.

 Mathai was a meticulous surgeon, a
superb and patient teacher, and a
brilliant clinician.
 Referring to his meticulous
hemostasis at every step of the
surgery, it is often said that Mathai
chased individual red blood cells.
 The excellent
 outcome of his surgical patients is
a testimony to his surgical
technique.
 He would be the first to greet all his
students on their birthdays and at
Christmas and New Year.

11.  Mathai retired from CMC in October 1986
 Continued to help his students in different hospitals in
Assam and Kerala.
 Helped in establishing GNRC( Guwahati
Neurological Research Center) in 1987 is the first
superspecialty healthcare center in North East India
 Then came back to Kerala.

19. May his soul rest in
peace