M.D. Utku Şenol

I brought my 8-year-old son, Kerem, to Dr. Utku Şenol after he fainted during a school football match. Our family doctor suspected a heart murmur, and we were terrified. Dr. Şenol has a magical way with children. He didn't just examine Kerem; he explained how the heart works using a toy model and let Kerem listen to his own heartbeat. His diagnosis was a benign condition that requires no intervention, just annual monitoring. He spent 45 minutes with us, answering every anxious question from both my son and me. We left the Eskisehir Acibadem not with fear, but with understanding and a plan. A cardiologist who is also a pediatric heart-whisperer.

As a 72-year-old with a history of hypertension, my routine checkup with Dr. Şenol turned into something critical. He was reviewing my annual echocardiogram and his demeanor shifted subtly. He pointed out a tiny, slow-growing aortic aneurysm that others had overlooked. 'It's not an emergency today, Mr. Adnan, but it is a conversation we need to have now,' he said. He mapped out three possible future paths: watchful waiting, a minimally invasive procedure, or open surgery, explaining the risks and benefits of each for someone my age with my specific health profile. He involved me in the decision-making completely. We chose surveillance, and his meticulous follow-up protocol makes me feel secure, not like a ticking bomb. He sees what others miss and prepares you for the journey, not just the crisis.

Midnight chest pain brought me to the Acibadem ER. The on-call cardiologist was Dr. Şenol. This wasn't a calm consultation; it was a high-stakes, rapid-fire scenario. He had a focused intensity, issuing clear orders to his team while simultaneously explaining to me, through gritted teeth of pain, that I was having a significant heart attack. He recommended and performed an urgent angioplasty within the 'golden hour.' What I remember most wasn't the procedure, but his visit the next morning. He sat down, showed me the before-and-after images of my artery, and said, 'The fire is out. Now we rebuild.' His post-op care plan is brutally honest but structured—no sugar-coating, just a clear road to recovery. He's a commander in the cath lab and a coach in recovery.

My case was complex: a rare congenital defect in my atrial septum that had been 'patched' in childhood, now causing arrhythmias in my 40s. I'd seen several cardiologists who were hesitant. Dr. Şenol approached it like a master puzzle solver. He didn't just look at the latest tests; he requested my surgical records from 30 years ago. He collaborated with electrophysiology and cardiac surgery colleagues, presenting my case in a multi-disciplinary meeting. He then laid out a bespoke, phased strategy: medication adjustment first, then a possible ablation, with surgery as a last resort. He treated my heart not as a faulty organ, but as a unique historical document. His expertise isn't just in knowing the textbook, but in writing a new chapter for patients whose textbooks are full of annotations.