Dr Sharmalar Rajendran

Director & Cardiologist Western HeartCare, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, NAHLN

MBBS (Hons) FRACP PhD FCSANZ FESC

Dr Sharmalar Rajendran obtained her medical degree with Honours from the University of Sydney under a university scholarship in 1997. She subsequently completed her cardiology training in 2004 and doctorate in platelet/endothelial function in 2009. She has presented in international meetings including the prestigious Samuel A Levine Young Investigator Award and has publications in peer-reviewed journals. 

Her interventional training experience was acquired in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, Prince Charles and Gold Coast Hospitals in Queensland. She has had a special interest in acute and elective radial coronary interventions, coronary imaging and functional testing. She works currently as a senior interventional cardiologist at Lyell McEwin Hospital. She is an educational advisor for the Royal College of physicians and enjoys teaching doctors in training at all levels.

Privately, she works predominantly at Western Hospital, being the Director of Western HeartCare, and Calvary Adelaide. She remains committed in providing comprehensive care to all patients.

She has been involved in research both as an investigator for international and national trials as well as supervising research of doctorate students in microvascular angina and sleep disordered breathing.

Published manuscripts

Comparative effects of glucose and water drinks on blood pressure and cardiac function in older subjects with and without postprandial hypotension. Trahair, Laurence; Rajendran, Sharmalar; Visvanathan, Renuka; Chapman, Matthew; Stadler, Daniel; Horowitz, Michael; Jones, Karen. Physiological Reports 2017.
Preventing Recurrent Events in Survivors of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Australia: Consensus Recommendations Using the Delphi Process PERMIT Consensus group: Heart Lung Circulation 2016.
Functional Assessment of Chronic Total Occlusions: Can CMR Imaging Add Value? Selvanayagam JB, Rajendran S. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2016 May;9 (5):557-8.
Troponin-positive chest pain with unobstructed coronary arteries: incremental diagnostic value of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Pathik B, Raman B, Mohd Amin NH, Mahadavan D, Rajendran S, McGavigan AD, Grover S, Smith E, Mazhar J, Bridgman C, Ganesan AN, Selvanayagam JB. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015 Nov 20.
Clinical determinants of acetylcholine-induced coronary artery spasm in Australian patients. Di Fiore DP, Zeitz CJ, Arstall MA, Rajendran S, Sheikh AR, Beltrame JF. Int J Cardiol. 2015 Aug 15;193:59-61.
A South Australian registry of biphasic cardioversions of atrial arrhythmias: efficacy and predictors of success.Wittwer MR, Rajendran S, Kealley J, Arstall MA. Heart Lung Circ. 2015 Apr;24(4):342-7. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2014.10.004. Epub 2014 Nov 5.
Premature aging of cardiovascular/platelet function in polycystic ovarian syndrome. Chan WP, Ngo DT, Sverdlov AL, Rajendran S, Stafford I, Heresztyn T, Chirkov YY, Horowitz JD. Am J Med. 2013 Jul;126(7):640.e1-7.
In patients with chronic stable angina, secondary prevention appears better in the very old compared to younger patients: the Coronary Artery Disease in gENeral practiCE (CADENCE) Substudy. Rajendran S, Visvanathan R, Tavella R, Weekes AJ, Morgan C, Beltrame JF. Heart Lung Circ. 2013 Feb;22(2):116-21.
Ramipril sensitizes platelets to nitric oxide: implications for therapy in high-risk patients. Willoughby SR, Rajendran S, Chan WP, Procter N, Leslie S, Liberts EA, Heresztyn T, Chirkov YY, Horowitz JD. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012 Sep 4;60(10):887-94.
Lack of association between aortic sclerosis and left ventricular hypertrophy in elderly subjects. Nightingale AK, Sverdlov AL, Rajendran S, Mishra K, Heresztyn T, Ngo DT, Horowitz JD. Int J Cardiol. 2011 Jul 1;150(1):33-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2010.02.024. Epub 2010 Mar 16.
Platelet hyperaggregability: impaired responsiveness to nitric oxide (“platelet NO resistance”) as a therapeutic target. Rajendran S, Chirkov YY. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 2008 Jun;22(3):193-203.
Paradoxical embolism via a patent foramen ovale: an important mechanism of cryptogenic strokes. Rahman A, Jayasinghe R, Rajendran S. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2008 Sep;1(2):e9-e10.
Polycystic ovary syndrome is associated with severe platelet and endothelial dysfunction in both obese and lean subjects. Rajendran S, Willoughby SR, Chan WP, Liberts EA, Heresztyn T, Saha M, Marber MS, Norman RJ, Horowitz JD. Atherosclerosis. 2009 Jun;204(2):509-14.
A universal classification system for chronic total occlusions. Jayasinghe R, Paul V, Rajendran S. J Invasive Cardiol. 2008 Jun;20(6):302-4. Review.
Potentiation of platelet responsiveness to nitric oxide by angiotensin-(1-7) is associated with suppression of superoxide release. Rajendran S, Chirkov YY, Horowitz JD. Platelets. 2007 Mar;18(2):158-64.
Angiotensin-(1-7) enhances anti-aggregatory effects of the nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside. Rajendran S, Chirkov YY, Campbell DJ, Horowitz JD. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2005 Oct;46(4):459-63.
Plasma Concentrations of Asymmetric Dimethylarginine (ADMA) Predict LV Mass Independent of Afterload. A.L. Sverdlov, D.T.M. Ngo, A.K. Nightingale, S. Rajendran, T. Heresztyn, J.D. Horowitz. Circulation 2009.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Coronary Artery Disease
Eng Lee Ooi 1, Sharmalar Rajendran
Curr Probl Cardiol 2023 Aug;48(8):101178.
The Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Ischemia with No Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease – A Pilot Study
Eng Lee Ooi 1, Sharmalar Rajendran 2, Dian Andina Munawar 2, Khin Hnin 3, Gnanadevan Mahadavan 2, Purendra Pati 2, Rosanna Tavella 4, John Beltrame 4, Margaret Arstall. Curr Probl Cardiol 2023 May;48(5).
Predictors of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) Population in the Coronary Angiogram Database of South Australia (CADOSA)
Eng Lee Ooi 1, Sharmalar Rajendran 2, Rosanna Tavella 3, Tracy Air 4, Gnanadevan Mahadavan 2, Margaret Arstall 1, Ajay Sinhal 5, Matthew Worthley 6, Christopher Zeitz 3, John Beltrame. Curr Probl Cardiol 2022 Jun;47(6):100846.
Assessing the Impact of Colchicine on Coronary Plaque Phenotype After Myocardial Infarction with Optical Coherence Tomography: Rationale and Design of the COCOMO-ACS Study.
Montarello NJ, Singh K, Sinhal A, Wong DTL, Alcock R, Rajendran S, Dautov R, Barlis P, Patel S, Nidorf SM, Thompson PL, Salagaras T, Butters J, Nerlekar N, Di Giovanni G, Ottaway JL, Nicholls SJ, Psaltis PJ. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 2022 Dec;36(6):1175-1186.
Non-invasive Risk Stratification for Coronary Artery Disease: Is It Time for Subclassifications?
Pupalan Iyngkaran 1, Samer Noaman 2, William Chan 3, Gnanadevan Mahadavan 4, Merlin C Thomas 5, Sharmalar Rajendran
Curr Cardiol Rep2019 Jul 25;21(8):87.
Cardiologists appropriately exclude resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests from emergency coronary angiography.
Wittwer MR, Zeitz C, Wu S, Mishra K, Rajendran S, Beltrame JF, Arstall MA.J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2020 Oct 20;1(6):1177-1184
Clinical and coronary haemodynamic determinants of recurrent chest pain in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease – A pilot study.
Sheikh AR, Zeitz CJ, Rajendran S, Di Fiore DP, Tavella R, Beltrame JF.Int J Cardiol. 2018 Sep 15;267:16-21. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2018.04.077.PMID: 29957255