The Rhythm Restorer of Delhi

In the lecture halls and wards of Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, Kamal Kumar Sethi began a career that would help bring modern heart-rhythm care to India. He graduated MBBS in 1971, earned his MD in Medicine in 1976, and completed his DM in Cardiology in 1979—all from the University of Delhi and its affiliated institutions, including G.B. Pant Hospital.

For twenty years he served on the faculty of cardiology at G.B. Pant Hospital, rising to the rank of Professor. During those years and beyond he became one of the true pioneers of interventional cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology in the country. He performed India’s first catheter ablation, introduced the first atrial pacemaker and the first dual-chamber pacemaker, and advanced programmed electrical stimulation and electro-pharmacological techniques. Advanced training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia and St. George’s Medical School in London sharpened the skills he brought home and shared generously with colleagues.

After leaving G.B. Pant Hospital he became Chairman and Managing Director of the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute, where he continues to lead clinical work and teaching. He has served as President of the Cardiological Society of India and of the Indian Society of Electrocardiology, edited the Indian Heart Journal, and remains a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the Heart Rhythm Society, and other distinguished bodies.

Recognition has followed a lifetime of steady innovation: the Padma Shri in 2006 from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Andrew Gruentzig Distinguished Interventional Cardiologist Award, the Legend in Cardiology Award of the Delhi Medical Association, the DMA Chikitsa Ratan Award, Lifetime Achievement honours, and many others.

Married to Dr. Neelam Sethi and the father of three, Prof. Kamal Kumar Sethi has balanced the demands of the catheter laboratory with the quieter responsibilities of family and mentoring. In the quiet rooms where irregular heartbeats are mapped and restored to steady rhythm, and in the young cardiologists who carry his techniques forward, his legacy continues—precise, pioneering, and deeply human.