Prof. Dr. Semih Halezeroğlu
Head of Thoracic Surgery Department at Acıbadem University Faculty of Medicine
- Istanbul University, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine (1981-1987)
- Thoracic Surgery Specialist (1992)
- Associate Professor (2001)
- European Certification in Thoracic, Cardiac, and Vascular Surgery (FETCS) (2001)
- Professor (2008)
He performed the first minimally invasive lung cancer surgery in Turkey in 2001.
He introduced the first single-port VATS surgery (Uniportal VATS) in Turkey in 2009.
He is currently serving as the Director of Thoracic Surgery at Acıbadem Maslak Hospital, the largest private hospital in Turkey.
I was born in Trabzon in 1965. I graduated from Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 1987 and started my career as a health center doctor in Bazlambaç village of Çekerek district of Yozgat.
One year later, I started my thoracic surgery specialty training at Heybeliada Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Center, one of the leading hospitals in our country in its field, and received my specialty certificate in 1992. My specialization thesis was about the closed chest surgery operation, that is, thoracoscopy, which was performed for the first time in our country.
In 2001, I became the first associate professor of thoracic surgery in Istanbul. In the same year, I became the first Turkish thoracic surgeon to receive the Fellow of European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. In 2002, I organized and chaired the Annual Scientific Congress of the European Association of Thoracic Surgeons, the first and only in our country.
In 2005, I had the honor of being the first Turkish thoracic surgeon to be elected as the President of the European Association of Thoracic Surgeons, the world’s largest thoracic surgery association with members from more than 90 countries. (Image: Presidential Medal Ceremony of the European Association of Thoracic Surgeons, Barcelona). In 2006, I became the founding president of the European School of Thoracic Surgery and held this position for 5 years.
Between 2003 and 2008, I worked as both chief physician and thoracic surgery clinic chief at Süreyyapaşa Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Center. I resigned from these positions of my own accord in 2008. During my duty as chief physician, together with our entire team, we managed to bring Süreyyapaşa Hospital to the second place in the quality ranking among 47 public hospitals in Istanbul (with the Quality Reviews of the Istanbul Health Directorate). During this time, I was honored twice with a letter of appreciation from the Istanbul Governorship for my contributions to health services. In 2012, I was invited to Çankaya Mansion by our Presidency to attend the 29 October Republic Ball.
In 2008, I received the title of professor of thoracic surgery given by the Interuniversity Board. Since 2009, I have been continuing to train new doctors at Acıbadem Maslak Hospital, where I had the opportunity to practice my profession in the best way possible, and also as the Head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Acıbadem University Faculty of Medicine.
The most important field of work of a thoracic surgeon is the surgical treatment of lung cancer, which is one of the most common cancers in our country. We performed the first lung cancer surgery with the closed method, that is, VATS, in 2007, whereas lung cancer surgeries were previously performed with the open method in all patients. By further developing this method, we have successfully performed the minimally invasive operation in the world, called single-port VATS, which is performed with an incision of only 3 to 5 cm, on more than 3,000 patients by 2022.
He is the first Turkish thoracic surgeon to be elected as the president of The European Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He served on the Society’s Board of Directors from 2000 to 2006, including the role he was unanimously elected to in 2005.
In 2006, he founded the European School of Thoracic Surgery and served as its director for many years.
He has taught thoracic surgery specialists in Bologna, Italy, and Elancourt, France.
He has been a guest speaker or moderator at more than forty international scientific meetings.
He organized and chaired the European Thoracic Surgery Congress, which was the first and only of its kind held in Turkey in 2002.
- Heybeliada Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital – Chief Assistant (1992-1998)
- Süreyyapaşa Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital (1998-2003)
- Head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the American Hospital (2003-2005) (I resigned from this position due to the Full Time Law for Chief Physicians enacted in 2005),
- Süreyyapaşa Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Chief Physician and Thoracic Surgery Clinic Chief(2003-2008),
- President of the European Association of Thoracic Surgeons(2005-2006)
- Founding Director of the European School of Thoracic Surgery(2006-2011)
- Head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Science University (2008-2009)
- Head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Acıbadem University Faculty of Medicine (2009 – present)
- Lingual inferior segmentectomy for a 7-cm pulmonary arteriovenous malformation.
Okur E, Baysungur V, Tezel C, Sevilgen G, Halezeroglu S. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2009 Jun;57(4):243-4 - Lung decortication for chronic empyaema: effects on pulmonary function and thoracic asymmetry in the late period.
Gokce M, Okur E, Baysungur V, Ergene G, Sevilgen G, Halezeroglu S. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2009 Oct;36(4):754-8 - Comprehensive analysis of 4205 patients with chest trauma: a 10-year experience.
Demirhan R, Onan B, Oz K, Halezeroglu S. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2009 Sep;9(3):450-3 - Extrapleural pneumonectomy for pyothorax-associated lymphoma.
Halezeroglu S, Akcevin A. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2009 Sep;9(3):554-5 - The treatment results of patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis and factors affecting treatment outcome.
Karagöz T, Yazicioğlu Moçin O, Pazarli P, Senol T, Yetiş Duman D, Duman G, Saltürk C, Unal O, Halezeroğlu S. Tuberk Toraks. 2009;57(4):383-92 - Partial resection of persistent left superior vena cava for a T4 lung cancer.
Okur E, Tezel C, Baysungur V, Halezeroğlu S. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2008;136(4):1080-1 - Delays in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Lung Cancer: Are Longer Delays Associated with Advanced Pathological Stage?
Yilmaz A, Damadoglu A, Salturk C, Okur E, Tuncer L, Halezeroglu S. Upsala J Med Sci 113 (3): 287-296, 2008 - Pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung: a report of six cases.
Yilmaz A, Sulu E, Arinç S, Saltürk C, Okur E, Aksoy F, Halezeroğlu S. Tuberk Toraks. 2007;55(3):290-4 - Cell type accuracy of transthoracic fine needle aspiration in primary lung cancer.
Yağci Tuncer L, Arinç S, Karabay Oğütçü E, Ertuğrul M, Nergiz S, Okur E, Halezeroğlu S. Tuberk Toraks. 2007; 55(2):148-52 - Enthusiasm: Where thoracic surgery gets its power.
Halezeroglu S. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. Dec 2006; 30(6): 825-6. Epub 2006 Oct 24 - Surgical approach to multiresistant cavitary mycobacteriosis.
Halezeroglu S. Breathe, March 2005, Volume 1:3 - Papillary carcinoma arising on cervico-mediastinal thyroglossal ductal cyst resected via transcervical and partial upper sternotomy incision.
Baysungur SV, Okur E, Halezeroglu S, Atasalihi A. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2002;22(5):842-4
- Turkish Respiratory Research Association
- Turkish Thoracic Surgery Association
- European Association of Thoracic Surgeons
- International Lung Cancer Association
- Turkish Thoracic Association
