Raja Selvaraj Cardiac Electrophysiologist
| +91-9442242648 | Puducherry IN
SUMMARY
I am a practicing Cardiac Electrophysiologist and am a faculty at the Jawharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research since 2010. I perform or oversee 200 to 300 ablation procedures and a similar number of CIED implants each year. My research interest has been in how repolarization abnormalities form the substrate for arrhythmias and sudden death. I have specifically worked on the genesis, measurement and significance of microvolt T wave alternans. I am also interested in digital signal processing of ECGs and intracardiac electrograms and in using computers to teach and understand Cardiac Electrophysiology.
EXPERIENCE
- Faculty at Department of Cardiology, currently Professor 12-01-2010 — Present
  JIPMER, Puducherry
- Senior Resident Jan 2003 — Jan 2005
  Southern Railway Hospital, Perambur
- Senior House Officer June 1995 — Dec 1995
  Southern Railway Hospital, Perambur
EDUCATION
University of Toronto, Toronto Apr 2005 — Jun 2009
Post Doctoral Fellowship - Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
Southern Railway Hospital, Chennai Jan 2000 — Jun 2003
Diplomate of National Board - Cardiology
Grant Medical College, Mumbai Jan 1996 — Jan 1999
MD - Pediatrics
Kilpauk Medical College Jan 1989 — Jan 1995
MBBS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Publications
"I have 170 publications including articles in peer reviewed journals and books / book chapters. My h-index is 14 as on 06-12-2024. Full list of publications is at https://rajaselvaraj.in/publications.html."

Editorial experience
  1. Editor-in-Chief of Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology Journal from 2021
  2. Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology
  3. Editor-in-Chief, Marriott's Practical Electrocardiography, SAE edition

Reviewer experience
  1. Served as reviewer for many national and international journals including Heart Rhythm, Europace, Circulation Arrhythmia, Heart Asia and Annals of Pediatric Cardiology

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Ease and accuracy of ECG interpretation using 12-lead ECG versus a combination of 12-lead and vector ECG (electro-vectorcardiogram) by medical students. A prospective, randomised controlled study. Hasitha T, Singhania N, Sukumaran SK, Selvaraj RJ. J Electrocardiol 2024;88:153830
2024 Combining Vectorcardiogram with ECG improves accuracy and ease of interpretation by medical students.
Comparison of electrocardiographic parameters between left bundle optimized cardiac resynchronization therapy (LOT-CRT) and left bundle branch pacing—cardiac resynchronization therapy (LBBP-CRT). Chinmay Parale, Dinakar Bootla, Ashish Jain, Santhosh Satheesh, Avinash Anantharaj, A. Shaheer Ahmed, Suresh Kumar Sukumaran, Sridhar Balaguru and Raja Selvaraj. Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology. 2023;46:840-847
2023 In patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, QRS duration was not significantly different with LOT-CRT as compared to LB-CRT. However, it was shorter when measured from the pacing spike and QRS area was significantly smaller.
Short term outcomes with dual chamber versus single chamber pacing for atrioventricular block - A crossover trial.. Ragavendra Chanthanamuthu, Sakthivel Ramasamy, Ashish Jain, Avinash Anantharaj, Ajith Ananthakrishna Pillai, Santhosh Satheesh, Raja J. Selvaraj.. Indian heart journal 2022; 74: 335- 337
2022 There was no difference in functional capacity and quality of life with VVIR versus DDD pacing in patients with complete heart block in the short term
Sudden death and its predictors in myocardial infarction survivors in an Indian population. Raja J. Selvaraj, Sasinthar Rangasamy, Dhivya Priya, Sreekumaran Nair, Ajith Ananthakrishna Pillai, Santhosh Satheesh, Jayaraman Balachander. Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology Journal 2021; 21: 82-87
2021 LVEF and NSVT were only significant predictors of mortality during follow up in patients with prior MI and LV dysfunction. T wave alternans, HRT and HRV showed no association.
Catheter ablation of scar based ventricular tachycardia - Procedural characteristics and outcomes. Ashutosh Yadav, Sakthivel Ramasamy, Joseph Theodore, Avinash Anantharaj, Ajith Ananthakrishna Pillai, Santhosh Satheesh, Raja Selvaraj. Indian Heart Journal 2020; 72: 563-569
2020 Catheter ablation shows high success rate. Recurrence is more common in ARVC compared to ischemic heart disease.
Effects of conscious sedation on tachycardia inducibility and patient comfort during ablation of supraventricular tachycardia. A randomized controlled study. Raja J. Selvaraj, Subash Dukiya, Ajith Ananthakrishna Pillai, Santhosh Satheesh, Jayaraman Balachander. Europace 2019;21:142-146
2019 Nurse administered sedation for SVT ablation procedures results in better patient comfort without affecting inducibility of tachycardia.
Reuse of pacemaker, defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization devices. Selvaraj RJ, Sakthivel R, Satheesh S, Ananthakrishna Pillai A, Sagnol P, Jouven X, Dodinot B, Balachander J.. Heart Asia 2017;40(5):568-577
2017 Reuse of CIEDs is as safe as use of new devices without increased risk of infection.
Radiofrequency ablation of posteroseptal accessory pathways associated with coronary sinus diverticula. Selvaraj RJ, Sarin K, Singh VR, Satheesh S, Pillai AA, Kumar M, Balachander J.. Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology 2016;47(2):253-259.
2016 Coronary diverticulum associated accessory pathways display a set of distinct clinical and ECG characteristics which help identify them. Mapping targets are different from those of other pathways. Ablation has a high success rate, but higher recurrence rate.
Chasing red herrings: Making sense of the colors while mapping.. Selvaraj, R.J. and Shankar, B. and Subramanian, A. and Nair, K.. Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology 2014; 7: 553-556
2014 An illustration of how setting window of interest can produce misleading isochronal maps in 3D mapping
Microscopic Systolic Pressure Alternans in Human Cardiomyopathy - Noninvasive Evaluation of a Novel Risk Marker and Correlation with Microvolt T wave Alternans. Raja Selvaraj, Adrian Suszko, Anandaraja Subramanian, Susanna Mak, Rodrigo Wainstein, Vijay Chauhan. Heart Rhythm. 2011 Feb;8(2):236-43
2011 Microscopic alternans of systolic pressure accompanies microvolt T wave alternans in patients with cardiomyopathy. This can be detected from non invasive beat-by-beat blood pressure recordings and may be useful as a marker of risk
Body Surface Projection of Action Potential Duration Alternans: A Combined Clinical Modeling Study with Implications for Improving T Wave Alternans Detection. Raja J. Selvaraj, Adrian M. Suszko, Anandaraja Subramanian, Dhinesh Sivananthan, Ann Hill, Kumaraswamy Nanthakumar and Vijay S. Chauhan. Heart Rhythm 2009 Aug;6(8):1211-1219
2009 T wave alternans measured on the body surface is dependent on amplitude and phase of action potential alternans in different regions of the heart. Discordant APD alternans produces maximum TWA. TWA amplitude is highest in central precordium and additional leads here may increase yield of measurement.
Endocardial and epicardial repolarization alternans in human cardiomyopathy: Evidence for spatiotemporal heterogeneity and discordance.. Raja J. Selvaraj, Peter Picton, Kumaraswamy Nanthakumar, Susanna Mak, and Vijay S. Chauhan. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2007;49:338–46
2007 Significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity of alternans exists in the heart as recorded in simultaneous unipolar recordings from various locations. Magnitude of intracardiac alternans and presence of discordant alternans influenced the amplitude of T wave alternans recorded on the chest.
LANGUAGES
English (Fluent) , Tamil (Native speaker) , Hindi (Fluent) ,
INTERESTS
Chess
Strong amateur player. Won second place at Bertram tournament in 1992. Active at lichess.org/@/dragonindia with FIDE equivalent rating of about 2000
Trekking
Trekking regularly since 2010, have completed 10 major treks in Himalayas and an ascent of Mt Kilimajaro. Details at https://rajaselvaraj.in/treks.html
Photography
Selected photos at https://rajaselvaraj.in/photos.html
Programming
Code at https://gitlab.com/rajajs. Selected projects at https://rajaselvaraj.in/code.html