Lokeswara Rao Sajja

D.Lokeswara Rao Sajja born on 5th July 1956, is an Indian Cardiac Surgeon at Star Hospitals Hyderabad, and holds the position of Senior Consultant Surgeon in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Director of Cardiovascular Surgical Research, and also the Chairman of Sajja Heart Foundation.
Dr. Sajja is a participating surgeon in over 10,000 open heart surgeries and himself performed over 4,000 surgeries, being coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, on-pump CABG and off-pump CABG using multiple arterial grafts (bilateral internal mammary arteries, radial artery grafts), mitral valve repair for ischemic mitral regurgitation, redo-CABG operations and CABG with concomitant valvular surgeries with a high success rate of 99.8%. He is a strong proponent of multiple arterial revascularization using bilateral internal thoracic arteries and radial artery graft for coronary bypass surgery.
Dr. Sajja was elected in May 2013 as an Active Member in the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) He is the fourth Cardiac Surgeon to reach this milestone from India since its inception in the year 1917.
He presented a paper on a randomized study conducted in India on “Coronary artery bypass grafting with or without cardiopulmonary bypass in patients with preoperative non dialysis dependent renal insufficiency: at 86thAnnual Meeting of American Association for Thoracic Surgery held at Philadelphia, (2006).
He described a modification of harvesting of bilateral internal mammary (thoracic) arteries in coronary bypass surgery that reduces the incidence sternal wound infections.
His commitment to resolution of social problems and extends his surgical expertise for the Aarogyasri Scheme which is a State sponsored health welfare scheme for the below poverty line in the state.
Early life
Dr. Lokeswara Rao Sajja hails from Jandrapet Village of Chirala Mandal in Andhra Pradesh, India. He was born to Sri Veeraiah Sajja and Smt Kousalya. He has 6 brothers and 3 sisters. Dr.Sajja is married to Dr.Jhanshi Vani, a Consultant Microbiologist at Care Hopsital, Hyderabad. They have one son, Pavan Sajja, is a Transmission Planning Engineer at Nisource, Merrillville,USA.
Education
Surgical training in India
He graduated from Guntur Medical College, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and did his post-graduation- MS in surgery from PGIMER, Chandigarh and JIPMER, Pondicherry. He did super-specialization- MCh in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Training abroad
He obtained advanced training under world renowned Cardiac Surgeon, Prof. Denton Cooley at the Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas, USA. He was conferred Fellowship of American College Surgeons (in Thoracic Surgery).
Innovations and contributions in the field of Cardiothoracic Surgery

* Introduced and popularized the technique of extrafascial harvesting of radial artery graft for CABG.
* Modification of harvest of bilateral internal thoracic (mammary) arteries for coronary bypass surgery which reduces the incidence of sternal wound infection.
* Designed and patented a device - Mammary Artery Surgical Platform (MASP) to facilitate the construction of Left and Right Internal Mammary Arteries ‘Y’ graft and there by promote the extended use of Bilateral Internal Thoracic Artery in CABG surgery.
* One of the two surgeons who introduced a new conduit, RIMA and radial artery composite in situ pedicle graft to use in CABG.
* Introduced clinically the concept of retrograde coronary sinus perfusion in patients with severe left main coronary artery stenosis undergoing bypass surgery.
Research, Presentations & Publications
* He is a keen researcher and prolific in publishing about 50 original peer-reviewed articles as the First Author in the leading Journals of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
* Presented several papers of Original Research at International Fora including Annual Meetings of AATS, STS, EACTS, ASCVS ATCVSA, and 2nd International Workshop on “Arterial conduits for myocardial revascularization” held at Rome.
* His research work has been quoted in many textbooks of Cardiothoracic Surgery i.e. Cardiac Surgery in the Adult, a premier textbook in adult cardiac surgery. His recommendations were included in the guidelines of coronary bypass surgery of American and European Heart Associations.
Editorial skills
* He is the member of the International Advisory Board of the Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals. He currently serves as Assistant Editor, Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular surgery and also serves as Section Editor for Cardiothoracic Surgery of Indian Heart Journal.
* Guest reviewer for The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals, Cardiology and Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Indian Heart Journal, Journal Indian College of Cardiology and has reviewed hundreds of manuscripts.
Memberships, Fellowships & Awards
* He is a member of American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Society of Thoracic Surgeons (USA), European Association for Cardio- Thoracic Surgery, Asian Society for Cardiovascular Surgery, Fellow of American College of Surgeons and Fellow of Indian Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons.
* For his contributions in the field of Medicine he was conferred A.P. Scientist Award for the year 2007 by AP State Council of Science & Technology, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh.
Orations
* Dr.C.S.Sadasivan Oration entitled “The Journey of Surgery for Coronary Artery Disease in India: Adoption, Customization and Innovation. 60th Annual meeting of IACTS held at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram. (2014).
* Prof. KV Naidu Memorial Oration entitled "The Journey of Surgery for Coronary Artery Disease in AP: Adoption, Customization and Innovation". XIV Annual Meeting of AP Chapter of Cardiological Society of India. NRI Medical College and Hospital, Chinnakakani, (2009).
* Dr.Sajja Sudhakara Rao Memorial Gold Medal Oration entitled “Early Detection and Surgical Management of CAD” at IMA,Chirala (2006).
Sajja Heart Foundation
Dr.Sajja is a Chairman of Sajja Heart Foundation, a charitable trust registered in India. An independent, academically focused organization dedicated to improve the survival and quality of life of people suffering from heart disease through research, education and service. The Foundation aid the researchers and investigators in designing studies, data harvesting and analysis of data, manuscript preparation leading to quality publications.

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