Rheumatology

Our department is Turkey's leading center for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of all childhood rheumatic diseases. Arthritis, other inflammatory conditions and non-inflammatory rheumatological problems are followed and treated in accordance with national and international treatment guidelines.

Our multidisciplinary team of physicians, physiotherapists, nurses and researchers works together to support our patients and their families.

Through the Transition Clinic that we run jointly with our hospital's Adult Rheumatology department, we evaluate our patients' last 2 check-ups after the age of 17 together with adult rheumatology physicians and try to make the transition to the adult clinic easier.

Services Provided

In our unit, all patient services are provided by specialist physicians in their fields, each of whom is a faculty member or staff member of worldwide reputation. Approximately 7,000-8,000 outpatients are seen in our outpatient clinics every year (8,149 patients in 2025). The annual number of inpatients is between 200 and 300 (240 patients in 2025). Our department has an ultrasound device (for joint ultrasonography), a joint injection room and a capillaroscopy device.

Our physiotherapy team, using a technique in line with the biopsychosocial model that they introduced to the literature as the Cognitive Exercise Therapy Approach (CETA), helps our patients in our outpatient clinic on 3 afternoons a week between 13:30 and 15:00, and at other times at the Rheumatological Rehabilitation Unit of the Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, located on the same campus.

The genetic diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of familial Mediterranean fever, which is very common in our society and which, if left untreated, leads to chronic kidney failure due to amyloid deposition, are carried out in our division. Our division is recognized as a world-renowned and reputable center in this field.

In addition, other diseases followed in our department:

• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis and its subtypes

o Systemic JIA

o Polyarticular JIA

o Polyarticular-onset Rheumatoid Factor (RF) positive JIA

o Oligoarticular JIA

o Enthesitis-related arthritis

o Psoriatic arthritis

• Arthritis associated with other chronic diseases

• Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis and localized scleroderma)

• Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM)

• Vasculitides – IgA Vasculitis/Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (IgAV/HSP), Kawasaki disease, Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN), Behçet's Disease, Takayasu and other vasculitides

• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)

• Mixed Connective Tissue Disease

• Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRMO)

• Sarcoidosis

• IgG4-related disease

• Periodic Fever Syndromes – FMF, PFAPA, CAPS, Hyper-IgD syndrome (HIDS), TRAPS and other genetic recurrent fever syndromes

• Chronic pain syndromes

• Joint hypermobility syndromes

Physiotherapy Team

Prof. Dr. Physiotherapist Edibe Ünal

Research

Controlled clinical trials

Studies carried out jointly with national and international research groups

Clinical outcome assessment studies

Studies assessing disease activity, functional assessment, clinical damage, pain and disease-related quality of life

Autoinflammatory diseases

The Eurofever project with international participation and European Union support, and the E-Rare INSAID project

Translational studies

We have translational studies that we conduct together with the departments of medical biology, genetics and biology.

Our other studies supported by TÜBİTAK are ongoing.

How Can I Benefit?

According to our hospital's rules, patients who will visit our department for the first time must be seen at the general pediatrics outpatient clinic. After that, all appointments are made by applying to the department secretariat. Patients without an appointment are not examined. For new patients referred by consultation, appointments are decided according to the urgency of the child's condition. Appointments can be made at the secretariat of the Pediatric Rheumatology Unit on the mezzanine floor of Hacettepe İhsan Doğramacı Children's Hospital.