Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey: Advancing Thoracic and Cardiac Care with Innovation & PatientCentric Accessibility
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey
Senior Consultant - Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery
These gaps not only affect patient outcomes but also underscore the urgent need for more accessible, advanced thoracic healthcare solutions. Stepping up to this challenge comes Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey, a Senior Consultant in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery based at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.
Backed by over 25 years of clinical experience, he brings together technical mastery with operational insights-an uncommon blend that helps him execute complex care within organized, patient-centered systems. His practice addresses twin imperatives that are excellence and reach, delivering highend interventions while working to extend services to underserved populations.
Expertise & Excellence
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey’s formative training began with an MBBS from King George Medical College, Lucknow, followed by an MS in General Surgery from Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College, Kanpur, and an MCh in Cardiothoracic Surgery from SMS Medical College, Jaipur. He also holds an MBA in Hospital and Health Systems Management, equipping him to marry clinical strategy with quality-driven hospital processes.
Over the years, he has built a practice that spans adult cardiac surgery, thoracic procedures, and advanced vascular care; his international engagements, including work in Bahrain, Nigeria, and Fiji, reflect a sustained commitment to capacity building beyond his home base.
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey specialises in minimally invasive valve surgery, robotic cardiac procedures, MIDCAB and total arterial revascularisation for coronary disease, while also managing complex aortic operations, heart-failure surgery, and heart and lung transplantation.
In thoracic practice, his expertise comprises video-assisted thoraco scopic surgery (VATS) and lung resections for benign and malignant diseases, thus offering the latest less-invasive options to patients. “Clinical precision must be matched by clear communication and meticulous planning; both are essential to delivering safe, modern cardiothoracic care”, says Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey, Senior Consultant, Apollo Hospitals.
The Exceptional Approach
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey leads and collaborates with multidisciplinary teams that combine surgical skill, anaesthesia expertise, perfusion and critical-care support, and allied health services. He emphasises a culture of continual learning, selecting team members who demonstrate technical competence, situational awareness and empathy. For high-risk patients, personalized care starts well before the incision.
Comprehensive preoperative optimization, engagement of the patient and family, and frank risk and expected recovery discussions provide the cornerstone for his approach. In his practice, technological adoption is important. The routine integration of minimally invasive and robotic techniques has reduced perioperative trauma in many patients and has continued to expand what is feasible without large thoracotomies.
He was the first surgeon in India to implant the Foldax Tria Polymer Mitral Valve at Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, and has pioneered ECMO-assisted mitral valve procedures, achievements that underscore his drive to implement innovations that improve both outcomes and access.
A memorable case that encapsulates his philosophy involved an elderly patient whose cultural concerns initially prevented acceptance of care; Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey’s willingness to meet the patient where he was demonstrated cultural sensitivity and built trust, eventually enabling a successful operation and reinforcing the role of compassion in surgical practice.
These clinical milestones have earned him recognition within hospital and community circles and shaped his role as a mentor for surgeons in India and abroad. “Innovation without rigorous selection and team preparedness risks harm; our duty is to match technology to the right patient at the right time”, says Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey.
Future Vision
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey’s priorities are twofold: to widen the geographic and socioeconomic reach of advanced thoracic care, and to continue refining minimally invasive and supportive technologies that make complex procedures safer and more accessible. He actively engages in training programs and collaboration initiatives with governmental and local healthcare providers to enhance basic cardiac services in remote areas, while nurturing center-to-center partnerships for long-term capacity building.
Operational experience in managing hospitals joins plans for pathway rationalization to reduce system costs and improve quality metrics, ensuring more patients have access to high-end interventions. Future projects include expanding the training modules for robotic and VATS procedures, developing outreach programs for island and rural hospitals, and piloting protocols to introduce AI-assisted planning into surgical workflows. Through all these, his central objective remains the same: ensuring that precision thoracic care, delivered with empathy and excellence, becomes accessible to a much broader population.
Medicine is rooted in faith, trust and compassion; every technical advance is meaningful only when it reaches the patient who needs it most
The Exceptional Approach
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey leads and collaborates with multidisciplinary teams that combine surgical skill, anaesthesia expertise, perfusion and critical-care support, and allied health services. He emphasises a culture of continual learning, selecting team members who demonstrate technical competence, situational awareness and empathy. For high-risk patients, personalized care starts well before the incision.
Comprehensive preoperative optimization, engagement of the patient and family, and frank risk and expected recovery discussions provide the cornerstone for his approach. In his practice, technological adoption is important. The routine integration of minimally invasive and robotic techniques has reduced perioperative trauma in many patients and has continued to expand what is feasible without large thoracotomies.
He was the first surgeon in India to implant the Foldax Tria Polymer Mitral Valve at Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, and has pioneered ECMO-assisted mitral valve procedures, achievements that underscore his drive to implement innovations that improve both outcomes and access.
A memorable case that encapsulates his philosophy involved an elderly patient whose cultural concerns initially prevented acceptance of care; Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey’s willingness to meet the patient where he was demonstrated cultural sensitivity and built trust, eventually enabling a successful operation and reinforcing the role of compassion in surgical practice.
These clinical milestones have earned him recognition within hospital and community circles and shaped his role as a mentor for surgeons in India and abroad. “Innovation without rigorous selection and team preparedness risks harm; our duty is to match technology to the right patient at the right time”, says Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey.
Future Vision
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey’s priorities are twofold: to widen the geographic and socioeconomic reach of advanced thoracic care, and to continue refining minimally invasive and supportive technologies that make complex procedures safer and more accessible. He actively engages in training programs and collaboration initiatives with governmental and local healthcare providers to enhance basic cardiac services in remote areas, while nurturing center-to-center partnerships for long-term capacity building.
Operational experience in managing hospitals joins plans for pathway rationalization to reduce system costs and improve quality metrics, ensuring more patients have access to high-end interventions. Future projects include expanding the training modules for robotic and VATS procedures, developing outreach programs for island and rural hospitals, and piloting protocols to introduce AI-assisted planning into surgical workflows. Through all these, his central objective remains the same: ensuring that precision thoracic care, delivered with empathy and excellence, becomes accessible to a much broader population.
