Noted cardiac surgeon Dr. Prakash Marpakwar, son of freedom fighter late Chintamanrao Marpakwar and Saraswati Marpakwar passed away in Pune on Saturday (March 5).
Dr Marpakwar was the brother of noted lawyer advocate Prabhakar Marpakwar and prominent journalist Prafulla Marpakwar. He is survived by two daughters Amruta and Smita.
Dr Marpakwar was a prominent cardiac surgeon pioneering many medical procedures and had several firsts to his name. Dr Marpakwar was the first doctor to perform an ‘Open Heart’ surgery in Nagpur in 1987.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Devendra Fadnavis condoled Dr Marpakwar’s death saying that Vidarbha has lost a prominent surgeon.
Born in Nagpur on July 9, 1948, Dr Marpakwar did his MBBS from Nagpur’s Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) in 1971. He stood first in the course at IGMC. Dr Marpakwar completed his MS (Post Graduation in Surgery) in 1976 at IGMC.
In 1981, completed his MS in Thoracic Surgery from Seth GS Medical College in Mumbai.
He was a life member of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons Association of India and a member of the Association of Surgeons of India. He was also a member of the Cardiology Society of India and the Indian Medical Association.
He was Vice President of the National Society for Prevention of Heart Diseases and Rehabilitation in Nagpur.
Socially active and always one to fight for the cause of doctors, Dr Marpakwar was President of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), Nagpur and a life member of the Vidarbha Seva Samiti who also attended to patients affected by the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
In 1982, he was a consultant of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery in Nagpur and performed the first ‘Open Heart’ surgery in 1987. Dr Marpakwar was also an honorary surgeon for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and the State Insurance Hospital, Nagpur.
Between 1973 to 1976 he worked in the Department of Surgery at IGMC, Nagpur. In 1977, he was a short trainee at the PGI, Chandigarh and then worked in the Department of Thoracic Surgery from 1978 to 1981 at Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai.
He presented several papers at important forums like the World Congress in Angiology at Munich, Cardiology Update-symposium and had many articles published and lectures delivered in world class journals on subjects like surgical management of cyanotic heart patients, chest trauma, coarctation of aorta and pulmonary shunt.
Later in his career, Dr Marpakwar started private practice and worked as an honorary doctor at the ESIS Hospital, Nagpur. He moved to Pune and then began practice in several countries in Africa including Ethiopia and Libya
