Assoc. Prof. Ferhat Demir, MD

Assoc. Prof. Ferhat Demir, MD is a pediatrician with a focus on pediatric rheumatology. He sees patients at Acibadem Altunizade Hospital and Acibadem Atasehir Hospital in İstanbul, where his work covers autoinflammatory, autoimmune and rheumatic conditions in children and adolescents as well as general pediatric care. He has more than 17 years in medicine and is a member of the Turkish Pediatric Rheumatology Association and the European Pediatric Rheumatology Association.

Dr. Demir graduated from İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 2009. He completed his pediatrics residency between 2009 and 2014, working at Bakırköy Yenimahalle Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics Hospital and then at Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul, where he finished his pediatrics training in 2014. He subsequently worked as a pediatrics specialist at Şanlıurfa Pediatrics Hospital. From 2015 to 2018 he was a pediatric rheumatology subspecialty resident in the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at Karadeniz Teknik University, completing this training in 2018. In 2016 he undertook a fellowship with the Pediatric Rheumatology International Trial Organisation (PRINTO) at Gaslini in Genova, Italy. Between 2018 and 2021 he served as a pediatric rheumatology specialist at Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, and since 2021 he has been working at Acıbadem Healthcare Services. He has co-authored peer-reviewed publications on topics including the clinical course of COVID-19 in children with rheumatic disease under biologic therapy, hepatitis B vaccination response in treatment-naive patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, monogenic systemic autoinflammatory diseases, hematological involvement in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus, and childhood IgA vasculitis.

Clinical focus

Dr. Demir evaluates and manages children with periodic fever and autoinflammatory syndromes, including PFAPA syndrome and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). His rheumatology practice also includes juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other forms of lupus, systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), dermatomyositis, Behçet’s disease and other autoimmune diseases. He assesses children with vasculitis, including Kawasaki disease, and with rheumatic fever.

Beyond rheumatology, his practice includes the assessment of iron deficiency and anemia, healthy child follow-up, newborn screening and jaundice treatment, and the evaluation of upper respiratory tract illnesses and croup. Treatment plans are based on the individual child’s history, examination findings and test results, and are discussed with the family before any decision is made.

How Dr. Demir works with international patients

Dr. Demir consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for other languages. The international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, arranges appointments and organises the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the child’s history and symptoms, a review of existing laboratory results, imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the options. Video consultations are available for international patients who wish to discuss a case before or after a visit.