WHO WE ARE

Peter I. Praeger, M.D. Peter I. Praeger, M.D., co-chief of the Cardiac Surgery Section of the Department of Surgery, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, CT., and his medical degree from New York Medical College in New York, N.Y. He completed his internship and residency at Montefiore Medical Center in 1977. He completed another residency in Maimonides Medical Center in 1979 before returning to Montefiore Medical Center for a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery in 1981. Dr. Praeger was a clinical instructor in surgery for Down State Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center. Following these hospital appointments, he became an attending surgeon at Westchester County Medical Center. He joined the medical staff of Hackensack University Medical Center in 1990. Dr. Praeger is a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and the National Board of Medical Examiners. The surgeon is also a member of the Bronx Medical Services Foundation, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Surgical Society of New York Medical College, and the Westchester County Medical Society. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology and the Westchester Academy of Medicine. Dr. Praeger is a recipient of the Leo M. Davidoff Society Certificate of Distinction and he served as chairman of the Fourth Congress of the Hungarian Society of Cardiac Surgery. He has received certification in many specialized areas within the cardiac field, including trans-myocardial laser revascularization, the Heartport minimally-invasive technique, video-assisted cardiac surgery, and robotic surgery. Dr. Praeger has been performing repair and replacement of the mitral valve for 25 years. He published one of the original research papers in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery on small incisions for the repair or replacement of the mitral valve. The paper included surgical patients of his who experienced excellent results. He has extensive experience with aortic valve surgery and performs surgery for aortic aneurysm. Dr. Praeger has training in surgery for atrial fibrillation and is currently performing the procedure with excellent results. He is in the process of founding a program at Hackensack University Medical Center for the treatment of atrial fibrillation in combination with other heart surgery, or as a primary procedure. It will utilize a 2½ inch incision in the skin and only require a one day hospital stay. He will be giving lectures to physicians and the interested public at many medical centers. Dates and times will be published on this website. For the past eight years, Dr. Praeger has almost exclusively been performing beating heart coronary bypass surgery without utilizing the heart lung machine. He has been achieving excellent results for his patients, including those who require up to 10 bypass grafts. He has been trained in utilizing the robot for harvesting the internal mammary artery and performing minimally invasive coronary artery bypass. Dr. Praeger, along with Robert Berkowitz, M.D., a member of the Division of Cardiology, is in the process of setting up a surgery program for heart failure. The program will be for patients who require remodeling of the heart or the placement of a left ventricle assist device (LVAD) as a bridge to heart transplant. The program will also include placement of left ventricular and right ventricular assist devices for patients who are in refractory congestive heart failure and are not candidates for heart transplant.