Akinobu Itoh, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Boston, MANPI 1396005211
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (36.6%), travel and lodging and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by Abiomed at 52.9% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $43,111 and has fallen 91.1% since, to $3,842 in 2025. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in MA with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 257 payments — averaging $396.05 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abiomed$54K
- Abbott$44K
- Medtronic$3K
- Edwards Lifesciences$379
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.$184
- Cvrx, Inc.$163
- plus $189 from 2 others
Across 77 payments — averaging $3917.40 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Abbott$176K
- Medtronic$107K
- Abiomed$19K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$27,14827%
- Speaking & faculty fees$37,25037%
- Travel & lodging$27,94027%
- Food & beverage$9,4469%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Abiomed | 62 | $53,823 |
| Abbott | 170 | $44,115 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 17 | $2,932 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 4 | $379 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 1 | $184 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $163 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $152 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $37 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- Impella$50,869
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist Device$16,451
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev$14,250
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$6,173
- HeartMate$2,536
- Avalus$2,293
- CentriMag$1,388
- CardioMEMS HF System$247
- Cardioblate$221
- ACUSON Origin Diagnostic Ultrasound System$184
- 2ND GEN CENTRIMAG PRIMARY CONSOLE$179
- MitraClip$176
- Barostim Neo System$163
- RELAY THORACIC STENT-GRAFT WITH PLUS DELIVERY SYSTEM$152
- HeartWare HVAD$132
- HeartMate Touch$126
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$123
How this compares
$101,785 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 171 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Massachusetts.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Massachusetts →
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Boston
- Lana Schumacher BealBoston$254K
- Sidney LevitskyBoston$248K
- Robert ThurerBoston$229K
- Margaret MarshallBoston$122K
- Pedro del NidoBoston$119K
- Amy HackmannBoston$80K
- Nathaniel LangerBoston$79K
- David DalessandroBoston$77K
- Joren MadsenBoston$65K
- Yuji KawanoBoston$63K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.