Henry M. Spotnitz is George H. Humphrey II Professor of Surgery, chairman of the Columbia University Medical Center Conflict of Interest Committee, co-chair of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Information Systems Clinical Advisory Committee, chair of the Information Technology Committee of the Faculty Practice Organization, and Vice-Chair for Research and Information Systems in the Department of Surgery.
Supported by National Institutes of Health funding, Spotnitz pioneered quantitative echo studies during cardiac surgery.
This research has documented substantial improvements in cardiac output among heart surgery patients undergoing biventricular pacing (also known as cardiac resynchronization therapy), which involves installation of pacemakers to fix delays in heart ventricle contractions and keeps the left/right ventricles pumping together (CUMC 2007).
Spotnitz has been awarded a five-year grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study the effects of biventricular pacing on heart function after cardiac surgery (CUMC 2007).
The first of two trials being conducted by Spotnitz investigates the use of biventricular pacing in patients who develop acute heart failure.