Prof. Agop Çıtak, MD

Prof. Agop Çıtak, MD is a pediatrician who practices at Acibadem Bakirkoy Hospital and Acibadem Altunizade Hospital in İstanbul. He works within the Pediatrics unit, and his clinical background centers on pediatric intensive care and pediatric emergency medicine, alongside the general follow-up of newborns, infants and children. He has more than 35 years in medicine.

Dr. Çıtak graduated from İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine in 1991 and completed his pediatrics training at the same faculty in 1996, having worked there as a physician research assistant in pediatrics from 1991 to 1996. In 2000 he gained experience at the USC Keck School of Medicine, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, in the division of critical care medicine. Between 2003 and 2009 he served as associate professor in the Division of Pediatric Intensive Care and the Pediatric Emergency Unit at İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, and he was appointed professor in the Division of Pediatric Intensive Care in 2009. In 2011 he completed training in pediatric intensive care and pediatric emergency at the same faculty. He is a member of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine/ European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care, the Türk Pediatri Association, the Türkiye Milli Pediatri Association, the Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care Association and the Turkish Medical Association, among others. His publications include work on pediatric shock, convulsive status epilepticus, seizures associated with poisoning, hypophosphatemia in critically ill children, and pandemic influenza (H1N1) in pediatric intensive care units in Turkey.

Clinical focus

A large part of Dr. Çıtak’s work concerns acutely and critically ill children. His areas of expertise include pediatric advanced life support, respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, sepsis, multiple organ failure and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. He also provides palliative care for children whose condition requires it. In these settings, assessment and treatment are adapted to the child’s clinical picture and are carried out together with the wider hospital team.

Alongside intensive and emergency care, Dr. Çıtak sees children for general pediatric concerns. These include febrile seizures, PFAPA syndrome, and iron deficiency and anemia in children. He offers well-child monitoring as well as neonatal follow-up and jaundice treatment for newborns.

How Dr. Çıtak works with international patients

Dr. Çıtak consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for families who speak other languages. Before a visit, the Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, such as laboratory and pathology results, X-ray or ultrasound reports, MRI or CT reports, operative notes and discharge summaries, and arranges appointments and the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the child’s history and symptoms, a review of existing imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the options. Video consultations are available for international patients, which can be helpful for an initial review of a child’s records or for follow-up when travel is not immediately possible.