Yelda Başbuğ, MD

Yelda Başbuğ, MD is a Pulmonary Medicine specialist practicing in the Pulmonology unit at Acibadem Kartal Hospital in İstanbul. With more than 25 years in medicine, she sees adult patients with respiratory and sleep-related conditions and works within the Smoke-Free Life, Treatment of Sleep Disorders, and Sleep Disorders services of the hospital.

Dr. Başbuğ graduated from Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine in 2001. In 2003 she worked as an Anesthesia and Reanimation Resident Doctor at Marmara University Hospital in İstanbul. She then trained in chest diseases, first as a Chest Diseases Resident Doctor at Heybeliada Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital (2004–2005) and then at Süreyyapaşa Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital (2005–2008), where she completed her specialty training in the Department of Chest Diseases in 2010. She continued at the same hospital as a Chest Diseases Specialist from 2008 to 2012 and, from 2012, served as a Chest Diseases Specialist with administrative responsibility at Haydarpaşa Numune Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul. In 2025 she joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services. She is a member of the Europeon Respiratory Society, the Turkish Respiratory Research Association, the Lung Health and Intensive Care Association, the Türk Toraks Association, the Türkiye Akciğer Kanserleri Association, and the Academic Respiratory Association.

Clinical focus

A substantial part of Dr. Başbuğ’s practice is devoted to sleep disorders, in particular sleep apnea. She evaluates patients with suspected sleep-related breathing problems and uses polysomnography (overnight sleep testing) to support diagnosis and to guide treatment decisions. Her published work includes studies on polysomnographic findings in patients with interstitial lung disease and on the effects of obstructive sleep apnea-related intermittent hypoxia.

Her general pulmonology practice covers asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other lung diseases, as well as lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia. She also assesses patients with lung cancer and other thoracic cancers and performs bronchoscopy as part of diagnostic work-up. She has co-authored case reports and clinical studies on lung cancer surgery, pneumothorax surgery, and sarcoidosis. Through the Smoke-Free Life service she supports patients who wish to stop smoking as part of broader pulmonary disease management.

How Dr. Başbuğ works with international patients

Dr. Başbuğ consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for patients who speak other languages. Before a visit, the Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, such as chest X-ray or CT reports, laboratory and pathology results, previous sleep study reports, operative notes and discharge summaries, and arranges appointments and the hospital stay. 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 available options. Video consultation is available for international patients who wish to discuss their situation with Dr. Başbuğ before traveling.