Peter K. Smith, MD
Heart Surgeon
My Locations
About Me
I am a heart surgeon who specializes in coronary artery bypass, grafting and valve replacement. Including medical school, I have been at Duke for over 40 years. Since 1994, I’ve been Duke’s Chief of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. My father was a doctor, so medicine runs in my family. As a heart surgeon, I see patients who are looking for someone they can trust to share in the risk of having a surgery that will lengthen their life. There’s nothing more rewarding than being worthy of that trust and succeeding in helping the patient achieve that goal at the end of the adventure. I enjoy being chief because our division offers a great mix of youthful energy and vast experience. We also offer every potential heart, lung or esophageal surgery option available, at a nationally recognized level of quality. In my spare time, I enjoy collecting first edition mysteries and reading.
- Mary and Deryl Hart Distinguished Professor of Surgery, in the School of Medicine, Surgery, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery 2016
- Professor of Surgery, Surgery, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery 1994
Call for an Appointment
Areas of Expertise
- Heart Bypass Surgery
- Valve Repair and Replacement
- Heart Surgery
Training and Education
Clinical Focus and Research
I study the effectiveness of the different surgical and medical aspects of treating heart and lung disease. Most of our treatments are already very effective, but my research seeks to identify new treatments and improve upon existing ones. My research involves individual patients or groups of patients who are volunteers in our effort to advance Heart and Lung Surgery. Many advanced therapies are only available through participation in such research.
- Postdoctoral Training in Cardiovascular Clinical Research awarded by National Institutes of Health 2003 - 2025
- Albahrani, Maher J., Madhav Swaminathan, Barbara Phillips-Bute, Peter K. Smith, Mark F. Newman, Joseph P. Mathew, and Mark Stafford-Smith. “Postcardiac surgery complications: association of acute renal dysfunction and atrial fibrillation.” Anesth Analg 96, no. 3 (March 2003): 637–43. https://doi.org/10.1213/01.ANE.0000047886.81598.2C.
- Milano, Carmelo A., Vijay S. Patel, Peter K. Smith, and Mark Stafford Smith. “Risk of anaphylaxis from aprotinin re-exposure during LVAD removal and heart transplantation.” J Heart Lung Transplant 21, no. 10 (October 2002): 1127–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1053-2498(02)00395-9.
- Scarborough, John E., Monica L. Smith, Patrick W. Domkowski, Luis H. Diodato, Anne M. Pippen, Peter K. Smith, Brian H. Annex, and Kevin P. Landolfo. “Basic fibroblast growth factor is upregulated in hibernating myocardium.” J Surg Res 107, no. 1 (September 2002): 119–23. https://doi.org/10.1006/jsre.2002.6475.
- Mulvihill, M. S., and P. K. Smith. “Treatment of functional ischemic mitral regurgitation by coronary artery bypass grafting.” In Functional Mitral and Tricuspid Regurgitation: Pathophysiology, Assessment and Treatment, 61–66, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43510-7_6.
- Williams, J. B., C. A. Milano, and P. K. Smith. “Critical Care for the Adult Cardiac Patient.” In Surgery of the Chest (9th Edition). Elsevier Inc, 2016.
- Lemaire, A., and P. K. Smith. “Surgical indications for coronary revascularization.” In Cardiothoracic Surgery Review, 54–57, 2012.
- Doenst, Torsten, Haissa Haddad, Amanda Stebbins, James A. Hill, Eric J. Velazquez, Kerry L. Lee, Jean L. Rouleau, et al. “Renal Function and Coronary Bypass Surgery in Patients With Ischemic Heart Failure - Insights From the STICH Trial.” In CIRCULATION, Vol. 138, 2018.
- Wang, Alice, Babatunde Yerokun, Zhuokai Li, Andrzej Kosinski, Morgan L. Cox, Brian C. Gulack, Matthew W. Sherwood, et al. “Fragmented Care Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement is Associated With Increased 1-year Mortality and Readmission.” In CIRCULATION, Vol. 136. LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, 2017.
- Yerokun, Babatunde A., Mani A. Daneshmand, Maria V. Grau-Sepulveda, Michael S. Mulvihill, Sreekanth Vemulapalli, Alice Wang, Vinod Thourani, et al. “Increased Duration Between LVAD Implantation and Orthotopic Heart Transplantation is Associated With Increased Operative Mortality: An Analysis of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database.” In CIRCULATION, Vol. 136. LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, 2017.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.