Jeffrey L. Zitsman, MD

Pediatric Surgery
General Surgery
More specialties
Accepting New Patients
Treats Children
Virtual Visits/Telehealth
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Overview

Dr. Zitsman graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in natural sciences, and received his M.D. degree from Tufts University Medical School in 1976. He received his training in General Surgery at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, and completed his Pediatric Surgery training at the Babies & Children's Hospital of New York. He is Board-Certified in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery, and also holds a Certificate of Special Competence in Surgical Critical Care.

Dr. Zitsman has maintained an active clinical practice in pediatric surgery in the New York area since 1985. He holds the rank of Professor of Surgery at the Columbia University Medical Center. His areas of interest include applications of minimally invasive techniques in pediatric surgery, chest wall deformities, and weight loss surgery in adolescents. Dr. Zitsman has been named to Castle Connolly’s Best Doctors in the New York area list annually since 2002.

Dr. Zitsman is founder and Director of the Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. He is Principal Investigator for an FDA-approved adolescent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding study. He has performed over 200 minimal access weight loss procedures and serves as Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Obesity of the American Pediatric Surgical Association. He is a member of the Program Committee and the Childhood Obesity Committee of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and has served as a Consultant to the Medical Devices Evaluation Panel of the FDA.

Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated

  • Bariatric Surgery - Adolescents
  • Metabolic Surgery
  • Minimally Invasive Pediatric Surgery

Academic Appointments

  • Professor of Surgery at CUMC

Administrative Titles

  • Director, Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

Hospital Affiliations

  • NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester
  • NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center
  • NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital

Gender

  • Male

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Virtual Visits/Telehealth

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Phone Appointments

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Location(s)

15 North Broadway
Floor Lower Level, Suite G
White Plains, NY 10601
177 Ft. Washington Avenue
New York, NY 10032

Insurance Accepted

Aetna

  • Aetna Signature Administrators
  • EPO
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • NYP Employee Plan
  • NY Signature
  • POS
  • PPO
  • Student Health

Affinity Health Plan

  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Amida Care

  • Special Needs

Cigna

  • EPO
  • Great West (National)
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • POS
  • PPO

Emblem/GHI

  • Medicare Managed Care
  • PPO

Emblem/HIP

  • ConnectiCare
  • EPO
  • Essential Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • POS
  • PPO
  • Select Care (Exchange)
  • Vytra

Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield

  • EPO
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • PPO

Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Fidelis Care

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

Healthfirst

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Leaf (Exchange)
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

Local 1199

  • Local 1199

MagnaCare (National)

  • MagnaCare

Multiplan

  • Multiplan

MVP Health Care

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Quality Health Management

  • Quality Health Management

UnitedHealthcare

  • Columbia University Employee Plan
  • Compass (Exchange)
  • Empire Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicaid (Community Plan)
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • Oxford Freedom
  • Oxford HMO
  • Oxford Liberty
  • POS
  • PPO

VNSNY CHOICE

  • Medicare Managed Care
  • SelectHealth
  • Special Needs

WellCare

  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

World Trade Center Health Plan

  • World Trade Center Health Plan

*Please contact the provider’s office directly to verify that your particular insurance is accepted.

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • Tufts School of Medicine
  • Internship: New England Medical Center-TUFTS University
  • Residency: Babies & Children's Hospital - Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center
  • Fellowship: American College of Surgeons

Committees, Societies, Councils

  • American Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Committee on Pediatric Surgery (2008-2010) Program Committee (2009-2011)
  • American Pediatric Surgical Association Committee on Childhood Obesity (2006-2009) Endosurgery Committee, (2002-2005)
  • International Pediatric Endosurgery Group
  • New York Surgical Society
  • Fellow, American College of Surgeons
  • Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics (Surgical Section)
  • Editorial Board, Childhood Obesity

Board Certifications

  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Surgery, General
America's Top Doctor
NY Top Doctor

Research

Research Interests

  • Adolescent obesity surgery
  • Pediatric Minimally Invasive Surgery

Selected Publications

  1. Conroy R, Lee EJ, Jean A, Oberfield SE, Sopher A, Kiefer K, Raker C, McMahon DJ, Zitsman JL, Fennoy I. Effect of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) on metabolic syndrome & its risk factors in morbidly obese adolescents. J Obesity 2011;2011:906384 Epub 2010 Sep 29.
  2. Zitsman JL, Fennoy I, Witt MA, Schauben J, Devlin MJ, Bessler, M: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in adolescents: short-term results. J Ped Surg 2011; 46:157-162.
  3. Zitsman JL , DiGiorgi MF, Marr JR, Witt MA, Bessler M. Comparative outcomes of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) in adolescents and adults., Surg Obes Relat Dis, 2011;7:720-726.
  4. Sysko R, Devlin, MJ, Hildebrandt T, Brewer S, Zitsman JL, Walsh BT. Psychological outcomes and predictors of weight loss among severely obese adolescents receiving bariatric surgery. J Clin Psychiatry, 2012;73: 1351-1357.
  5. Freidl EK, Sysko R, Devlin MJ, Zitsman JL, Walsh BT. School and Cognitive Functioning Problems in Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Candidates. Surg Obes Relat Dis, 2013;9: 991-6.
  6. Sysko R, Devlin MJ, Schebendach J, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Zimmerli, E,Korner J, Yanovski JA, Zitsman JL, Walsh BT. Hormonal responses and test meal intake among obese teenagers before and after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding., Am J Clin Nut, 2013;98: 1151-1161.
  7. Sysko R, Zandberg LJ, Devlin, MJ, Annunziato RA, Zitsman JL, Walsh BT. Mental Health Evaluations for Adolescents Prior to Bariatric Surgery: A Review of Existing Practices and a Specific Example of Assessment. Clin Obes 2013; 3: 62-72.
  8. Censani M, Conroy, R, Deng L, Oberfield SE, McMahon DJ, Zitsman JL, Leibel RL, Chung WK, Fennoy I. Weight loss after bariatric surgery in morbidly obese adolescents with MC4R mutations. Obesity, 2014; 225-31..
  9. Zhang Y, Zitsman JL, Huo J, Fennoy I, Guo K, Feinberg J, Leibel RL. Gender and depot related differences in adipocyte size and adipokine expression and their relations to adiposity and metabolic risk factors in morbidly obese adolescents. Obesity, 2014; 22:691-7.
  10. Chin, V, Censani, M, Lerner, S, Conroy, R, Oberfield, S, McMahon, D, Zitsman, J, Fennoy, I. Gonadal Dysfunction in Morbidly Obese Adolescent Girls. Fertil Steril 2014; 101:1142-8.
  11. Sysko R, Hildebrandt T, Kaplan S, Brewer S, Zitsman JL, Devlin MJ. Predictors and Correlates of Follow-up Visit Adherence among Adolescents Receiving Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2014 ; 10: 914-920.
  12. Zitsman JL, DiGiorgi MF, Fennoy I, Kopchinsky JS, Sysko R, Devlin MJ. Adolescent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB): prospective results in 137 patients followed for 3 years. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2015; 11: 101-109.
  13. Pedroso FE, Gander J, Oh PS, Zitsman JL. Laparoscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy significantly improves short term weight loss as compared to laparoscopic adjustable gastric band placement in morbidly obese adolescent patients. J Ped Surg. 2015: 50; 115-122.