Dr. Sumanth M Rao

Dr Sumanth M Rao is a consultant rheumatologist in Mangaluru with 15 years of experience in rheumatology, clinical immunology, and complex autoimmune disease management, currently practising at Manipal Hospital, Attavar, Mangaluru.

He holds a Speciality Certification Examination in Rheumatology from the British Society of Rheumatology and is a member of the APLAR Young Rheumatologists Group, with research presented at ACR, EULAR, and APLAR international conferences.

He consults in English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia.

Area of Expertise

Inflammatory Arthritis

Dr Sumanth Rao evaluates and manages patients with inflammatory joint conditions affecting multiple joints with targeted disease-modifying therapy and long-term monitoring:

• Rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis and management
• Psoriatic arthritis evaluation and treatment
• Ankylosing spondylitis and spondyloarthropathy care
• Gout and crystal arthropathy management
• Osteoarthritis assessment and treatment

Systemic Connective Tissue Diseases

Patients with autoimmune conditions affecting multiple organs are assessed with specialised immunological workup and managed with immunosuppressive therapy:

• Systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosis and management
• Lupus nephritis induction and maintenance therapy
• Sjogren's disease evaluation and care
• Scleroderma assessment and management
• Myositis and inflammatory muscle disease treatment

Systemic Vasculitis

Dr Sumanth M Rao manages patients with primary vasculitis affecting large, medium, and small vessels with structured diagnostic workup and immunosuppressive management:

• ANCA-associated vasculitis diagnosis and treatment
• Takayasu arteritis evaluation and management
• Cutaneous vasculitis assessment and care
• Vasculitis-related organ damage monitoring
• Long-term immunosuppressive therapy planning

Paediatric Rheumatology

Patients with juvenile arthritis, autoinflammatory conditions, and childhood-onset rheumatic diseases are evaluated with age-specific assessment and management:

• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis diagnosis and management
• Paediatric non-infectious uveitis evaluation and care
• Macrophage activation syndrome assessment and treatment
• Autoinflammatory disease including NLRP-3 cryopyrinopathies
• Paediatric scurvy and bone pain evaluation

Soft Tissue Rheumatism and Chronic Pain

Patients with fibromyalgia, chronic musculoskeletal pain, and non-inflammatory soft tissue conditions are assessed and managed with a structured pain-focused approach:

• Fibromyalgia diagnosis and long-term management
• Chronic pain syndrome evaluation
• Soft tissue rheumatism assessment and care
• Dyslipidaemia screening in fibromyalgia patients
• Lifestyle and pharmacological pain management

Rare and Complex Rheumatological Conditions

Dr Sumanth evaluates patients with rare autoimmune, genetic, and systemic rheumatological conditions requiring specialist diagnostic workup:

• Majeed syndrome and rare autoinflammatory conditions
• POEMS syndrome evaluation
• Macrophage activation syndrome management
• Axial spondyloarthropathy and its mimics
• Rare connective tissue disease assessment

Credentials and Qualifications

• MBBS, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Karnataka
• MD Internal Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Karnataka
• DM Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Amrita Institute of Medical Science, Kochi
• Speciality Certification Examination (SCE) in Rheumatology, British Society of Rheumatology
• Certificate Course in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru

Professional Memberships

• Indian Rheumatology Association
• APLAR Young Rheumatologists Group

Hospital Affiliations

Current Affiliations

• Manipal Hospital, Attavar, Mangaluru

Awards and Academic Contributions

• Best Paper Award, Paediatric non-infectious uveitis: Clinical profile and short-term visual outcomes in a tertiary care centre, National Conference of Paediatric Rheumatology, 2022
• Best Poster Award, Mechanical Inflammation: Osteoporosis or Sacroiliitis, RHEUMACON, 2022
• 2nd Prize, Spectrum of Axial SpA mimics: All that shines is not SpA, SZIRACON, 2023
• Best Poster Award, Effect of a hyperlipidaemic state on urine expression of rifampicin and its association with pulmonary tuberculosis, MEDICON, Delhi, 2013
• Presented at ACR Annual Conference 2021 and 2022
• Presented at APLAR Annual Conference, 2024
• Presented at EULAR, 2025
• Presented at APLAR Paediatric Rheumatology Webinar Series

Research and Publications

Dr Sumanth M Rao has published in indexed international rheumatology and immunology journals covering autoimmune disease, paediatric rheumatology, and rare conditions:

• Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies, Indian Journal of Paediatrics, 2023
• Comparative Efficacy of Intravenous Cyclophosphamide, Mycophenolate Mofetil, and Tacrolimus as Induction Therapy for Lupus Nephritis: A Randomised Controlled Open-Label Trial, Lupus, 2025
• The Effect of Hyperlipidaemic State on Urine Expression of Rifampicin and its Association with Pulmonary Tuberculosis, International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2014
• LPIN2-Related Majeed Syndrome: Report of Two Indian Patients with Novel Variants in LPIN2 and Review of Literature, Clinical Dysmorphology, 2024
• POEMS: A Diagnostic Odyssey, The Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences, 2021

Book an Appointment with Dr Sumanth M Rao, Rheumatologist in Mangaluru

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