Research Interests
- Cardiovascular disease in rheumatic diseases
- Imaging in Rheumatic diseases
Research Summary
Prevalence of abnormal Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) in patients with Primary Sjogren’s syndrome:
Primarily responsible for designing the project, obtaining ethical approval from REC, patient recruitment, obtaining informed consent, data collection and analysis. We compared the prevalence of abnormal ABI (surrogate marker for sub clinical atherosclerosis) in patients with PSS and in controls without PSS.
Findings were submitted for MSc thesis. They were presented as a poster at EULAR 2008 in Paris (reference given in publications section) and published as an original article in Clinical Rheumatology.
Research Highlights
Personal
Education
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, 2015, FRCPC ,
Joint Royal College of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB), UK , 2003, Certificate of completion of training (CCT) in Rheumatology & General (Internal) Medicine,
King’s College, London, UK, 2007, MSc in Rheumatology,
Royal College of Physicians, London, UK , 2003, ECFMG certification ,
Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), USA, 1998, ECFMG certification,
Osmania Medical College (affiliated to Andhra Pradesh University of Medical Sciences), India, 1997, MBBS,
Affiliations
Recent Publications
Original articles
1. Ravindran V, Rachapalli S. An overview of the commonly used radiographic scoring methods in rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials. Clin Rheumatol. 2011 Jan;30(1):1-6.
2. Rachapalli S, Williams R, Young A, Walsh D, Kiely PD and Choy EH for Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Network (ERAN). First line DMARD choice in early rheumatoid arthritis – do prognostic factors play a role? Rheumatology 2010 Jul;49(7):1267-71.
3. Ravindran V, Rachapalli S, Choy EH. Safety and toxicity of glucorticoids in the medium to long term management of rheumatoid arthritis: a metaanalysis. Rheumatology. 2009 Jul;48(7):807-11.
4. Rachapalli S, Kiely PD, Bourke BE. Prevalence of abnormal ankle brachial index (ABI) in patients with primary Sjogren’s syndrome. Clin Rheumatol. 2009 May;28(5):587-90
Text book chapters
1. Rachapalli S, Choy EH. Emerging therapies in Rheumatoid arthritis. In: L Moreland ed. Rheumatoid arthritis. London: Remedica. 2008:149-166.
2. Rachapalli S and Ellis B. Connective tissue diseases and vasculitis. Chapter contribution to the core reading material on the Postgraduate diploma in Musculoskeletal Medicine (PG Dip MsMed), offered by Middlesex University, London.
Case reports
1. Rachapalli S, Malaiya R, Mohd TAMT, Hughes RA. Successful treatment of Candida discitis with 5-flucytosine. Rheumatol Intl. 2009 (Epub ahead of print)
2. Saha A, Rachapalli S, Steer S, Gordon P. Bilateral parotid gland involvement in Wegener’s granulomatosis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2009 Jul;68(7):1233-4
3. Rachapalli S, Kiely PD. Cocaine induced midline destructive lesions mimicking ENT-limited Wegener’s granulomatosis. Scand J Rheumatol. 2008 Nov-Dec;37(6):477-80
4. Rachapalli S, O’Daunt S. Septic arthritis due to Listeria monocytogenes in a patient on Etanercept. Arthritis Rheum. 2005 Mar; 52(3): 987.
Letters
1. Rachapalli SM. Level of circulating CD4+ 28(null) cells in chronic inflammatory diseases: an important marker in predicting acute coronary events? Rheumatol Int. 2009. Epub ahead of publication
2. Rachapalli S. Periodontal disease in Rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren’s syndrome – a modifiable risk factor for atherosclerosis? Rheumatol Int. 2009 Feb;29(4):479
3. Rachapalli S. Inflammatory bowel diseases and atherosclerosis. Do we need more studies? Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 2005 Jul; 11(7):705
4. Rachapalli S. Myocardial infarction after Aspirin. J R Soc Med. 2005 Mar; 98(3): 136-7.
Selected abstracts (presented at national and international conferences) – Abstracts accepted for publication in journals not mentioned here.
1. Malaiya R, Rachapalli S. Effects of anti-TNF agents on bone density and markers of bone density. Abstract accepted as poster for BSR 2010.
2. Rachapalli S, Ravindran V, Vagani B. Effects of Tocilizumab on lipid profile. Ann Rheum Dis 2009;68(Suppl3):741
3. Rachapalli S, Ravindran V, Malaiya R, Choy EH. A systematic review of the effects of anti-TNF agents on lipid profile. Ann Rheum Dis 2008;67(Suppl II):329)
4. Rachapalli S, Hughes RA. A systematic review of the literature on the effects of smoking on progression of Rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology 2008; 47 (Sii): ii52
5. Walton TJH, Rachapalli S, Putta S, Byrne P, Daunt S. Can we accurately make a diagnosis from the information contained in the referral letter? A survey. EULAR 2004 (SAT0463)
6. Allen RJ, Saleh GM, Rachapalli SM, DeWit DW, Sheldrick J. Paracetamol induced hepatic injury leading to bilateral vitreous haemorrhage. Poster presentation at EVER (European Vision and Eye Research) 2004
Awards & Recognition
Grants
Regular teaching of residents and fellows in various specialities and sub slecialities (Internal Medicine, Dermatology, Ophthalmology)