Deane E. Smith, MD

As a cardiac surgeon, I specialize in caring for people with advanced heart failure. These are people whose symptoms persist despite all the standard medical and surgical treatments, and who need the best heart care available.

I often meet patients when they enter cardiogenic shock after a heart attack, which is a life-threatening condition that limits the heart’s ability to pump blood through the body. Others have chronic heart failure that has reached the point where a heart transplant is required. For these patients, I work with our experts at the NYU Langone Transplant Institute to provide heart transplants.

I also treat patients by using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a device that does the work of the heart and lungs so they can rest and repair. For others, I can offer ventricular assist devices (VADs) to help the heart move blood through the body. In my research, I’m part of a clinical trial looking into the NuPulse intravascular ventricular assist system, which is part of the next generation of VADs that have improved portability and rely on less invasive surgical techniques.

The risks in this work are high. My patients are often very sick and need aggressive therapies. When it came time to choose a career, I realized there would be immense satisfaction in helping other people who are in need of intensive cardiac care.

I am thankful for the opportunity to work with highly skilled members from our Heart Failure Advanced Care Center and Adult ECMO Program. There are many people who have walked out of the hospital because of the care we are able to provide, and I am honored to be part of a team that can make that happen.