Physician’s Profile
Profile image of Jeffrey L. Zitsman, MD

Jeffrey L. Zitsman, MD

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

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

About:

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.

Interests:

Adolescent obesity surgery
Pediatric Minimally Invasive Surgery

Publications:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.