Medicine

Rheumatology Services

Faculty :

Faculty Head :	Dr. L S Bichile Professor, HOD and Chief, Rheumatology
Other Faculty :	Dr. Aanjali Rajadhyaksha Associate Professor Dr. Archana Sonawale Lecturer Dr. Vaibhav Chewoolkar Lecturer

OPDs :

Saturday-8.00 am to 12.30 pm (CVTS bldg, ground floor)
Thursday - 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm (MSB first floor)

Established in the year 1977. In the year 2005, 1871 new patients and 4578 old patients attended the OPD and 355 patients required indoor admission

Rheumatology OPDs and review clinic are conducted twice a week. In addition Scleroderma, backache and lupus clinics are held every week. Patients are offered medical care, education about their disease and Rehabilitation therapy in collaboration with the Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Social Service Department

An Immunology laboratory (Department of Pathology) with facilities for conducting tests like RF, CRP,ANA, dsDNA, A.N.C.A., A.C.L.A.,HLA B 27, estimation of C3, C4, and Synovial fluid analysis is available. Registries for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Seronegative Spondyloarthropathy have been maintained.

Ongoing Research activities:

• Spondyloarthropathy- A prospective open label study of combination DMARD therapy.
• Early Rheumatoid Arthritis - Clinical study to look for any Indian Variant.
• Correlation of serum Methotrexate levels with the clinical response.
• Scleroderma: Assessment of peripheral vascular disease, pulmonary function & causative factors.
• Anti phospholipid nephropathy - A longitudinal study to assess the prognosis & contributory factors.
• Spectrum of APLA, LA & B2GPI antibodies in lupus with thrombotic manifestations.

• Arthritis camps
• Osteoporosis camps
• Inter Hospital Rheumatology meets
• Guest lectures by Consultant Rheumatologists from other Hospitals.

Research with collaborating Depts:

• CSIR- NMITLI Arthritis Project - going on since 2001 for exploring the role of traditional drugs in arthritis.
• ICMR- Research scholarships to students working in Rheumatology division. - Work disability in RA
• BJD- India - work on Early RA to look for Indian variant & genetic marker.
• Clinical Pharmacology - Correlation of serum Methotrexate levels with clinical activity in RA.
• Dept of Pathology- Immunology Section - Developing panel of ACLA test B2 GPI & its pathogenic role in thrombotic disorders.

• Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in systemic lupus erythematosus: prevalence, clinical associations and correlation with other autoantibodies
  Pradhan VD, Badakere SS, Bichile LS, Almeida AF
  J Assoc Physicians India. 2004 Jul;52():533-7.

• Clinical utility of screening for antinuclear antibodies by enzyme immunoassay a preliminary study.
  Divate S, Hardikar P, Bichile LS, Rajadhyaksha A
  J Assoc Physicians India. 2004 Apr;52():290-3.

• Extensive Pulmonary Thrombosis
  S. Akerkar, P. Dhargalkar, R. Sonawane, A. Rajadhyksha, S. Bichile Lata
  J k Science 2005 Vol.7 No. 1,January -March 2005, Page no. 53, 54 Jan-Mar

• Therapeutic options in Systemic Sclerosis
  Akerkar SM, Bichile LS
  Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2004;70:67-75

• Rationale of Laboratory investigations in Rheumatological conditions
  Bichile LS, Akerkar SM
  J Gen Med 2004;16(2):13-17

• Accelerated sclerosis in a case of Scleroderma with Carcinoma Ovary on Paclitaxel & Cisplatin.
  Akerkar SM, Bichile LS
  J Indian Rheum Asso 2005; 13(1): 24-26

• Cutaneous vasculitis in lupus: A turning point in the course of the disease? Case report & review.
  Akerkar SM, Kale V, Bichile LS
  J Indian Rheum Asso. 2005; 13(1):27-29.

• Pamidronate: A promising new candidate for management of Spondyloarthropathy.
  Akerkar SM, Bichile LS.
  Indian J Med Sci. 2005;59(4):165-170.

• Neuropsychiatric manifestations in Lupus: clinical experience.
  Bichile LS, Akerkar SM, Rajadhyax A, Sonawale A
  J Indian Rheum Asso 2004; 12 S1:5

• Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry: Mumbai experience. Do we have an Indian variant of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
  Akerkar SM, Bichile LS, Rajadhyax A, Sonawale A
  J Indian Rheum Asso 2004; 12 S1:16

• Vasculopathy in scleroderma: Is Azathioprine an answer? A pilot study to compare the efficacy of Azathioprine & Cyclophophamide in clinical & hand function improvement in Scleroderma.
  Akerkar SM, Bichile LS
  J Indian Rheum Asso 11:Suppl 1; 2003

• Vasculopathy & digital perfusion in scleroderma: assessment by LASER DOPPLER Flowmetry & effect of Azathioprine.
  Bichile LS, Akerkar SM, Patel M, Kulhalli P
  J Indian Rheum Asso 11:Suppl 1; 2003

• Occurrence of thrombocytopenia with evidence of thrombosis in APLA positive patients.
  Akerkar SM, Bichile LS
  1st Asian American International medical Conference 2003