Ronald Leidenfrost, MD, is chief of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital and chairman of it's Heart and Vascular Institute. He is a member of a highly-qualified team treating all aspects of adult heart, lung, esophageal, chest wall and vascular surgery. Dr. Leidenfrost is board-certified in internal medicine, thoracic and cardiac surgery at St. Luke's Cardiothoracic Surgery. 

Dr. Leidenfrost specializes in off-pump coronary artery bypass, or “beating-heart” surgery. The heart is not stopped during this procedure. Instead, special devices are used to stabilize the part of the heart that the surgeon is operating on, providing patients the benefits of reduced complications and recovery time. No other hospital in the greater St. Louis area performs as many beating-heart procedures. Dr. Leidenfrost also specializes in permanent pacemaker surgery and complex reoperative heart (CABG and valve) surgery.