Prof. Refik Erdim, MD

Prof. Refik Erdim, MD is a cardiologist in the Cardiology Department of Acibadem Atasehir Hospital in İstanbul, Türkiye, with more than 20 years in medicine. His clinical work is centered on interventional cardiology, including coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention and transcatheter aortic valve implantation, together with the care of patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes and selected rhythm disorders.

Dr. Erdim graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Medicine (Eng) in 1999 and completed his cardiology training at Marmara University Faculty of Medicine in 2005. In the same year he trained at Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Interventional Cardiology, and in 2006 he received the Fellowship of Europen Associotion of Cardiology ( FESC ). From 2006 to 2017 he worked at Sisli Florence Nightingale Hospital / Cardiology / Angiography Department, where he was appointed Associate Professor in 2013. He was at Acibadem Kadikoy Hospital in 2017 and joined Acibadem Health Group in 2020. He is a member of the European Association of Coronary Percutaneous Interventions (EAPCI), Europen Society Of Cardiology Fellow (FESC), the Turkish Medical Chamber, the Turkish Society of Cardiology and the Istanbul Interventional Cardiology Academy. His profile lists ten publications dated between 2002 and 2012, on subjects including drug-eluting stents in acute myocardial infarction, transcatheter aortic valve implantation, ventricular fibrillation during exercise testing and cardiac troponin T in patients receiving chronic hemodialysis.

Clinical focus

Dr. Erdim evaluates and treats patients with acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris, as well as those with ventricular fibrillation and sick sinus syndrome. Diagnostic work includes coronary angiography, which is used to visualize the coronary arteries and to guide decisions about further treatment. When intervention is indicated, his procedures include percutaneous coronary intervention, drug-eluting coronary stent implantation and coronary stent revascularization.

For more complex coronary lesions, he performs rotational atherectomy, steerable coronary atherectomy, coronary thrombectomy and laser coronary angioplasty; these are assistive techniques used in stent revascularization, and he has co-authored a review on their indications. His practice also covers transcatheter aortic valve implantation, a catheter-based approach to aortic valve disease in appropriately selected patients. Whether a given procedure is suitable depends on the individual patient’s findings and overall condition, which are assessed during consultation.

How Dr. Erdim works with international patients

Dr. Erdim consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for other languages. Before a visit, the international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, such as angiography or echocardiography reports, laboratory results, operative notes and discharge summaries, and arranges appointments and the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and symptoms, a review of existing imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the options. Video consultation is available, so patients abroad can speak with Dr. Erdim before deciding whether to travel.