Dr. Dr. Nadiv Shapira, MD, FACS

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Get to know Venous and Lymphatic Medicine Specialist Dr. Nadiv Shapira, who serves patients in Wilmington, Delaware. 

Dr. Shapira is a knowledgeable venous and lymphatic medicine specialist serving as the Medical Director of First State Lipedema in Wilmington, Delaware. He has treated over 400 lipedema patients from all over the United States and Canada. 

He was a cardiac surgeon for over twenty years, primarily in the Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware. He developed expertise in electrophysiological cardiac surgery, primarily in the implantation of defibrillators and in minimally invasive cardiac ablation to address atrial fibrillation. He was involved in developing the Christiana Care Arrhythmia Center, including preparing research protocols and databases for patients with atrial fibrillation. During the last few years of his tenure in CCHS, Dr. Shapira focused primarily on thoracic surgery and on interventional pain management of victims of chest trauma. He has always maintained interest in critical-care medicine, particularly in management of cardiac surgical patients.

Recognizing the need for improvement in the care of venous disease in Delaware and the surrounding communities, in January of 2011, Dr. Shapira opened the First State Vein and Laser Center. In 2012, he left his 20-year practice of cardiothoracic surgery to devote his entire career to the practice of phlebology (the study of the venous circulatory system). In his new practice, he offers in-depth evaluations and a wide range of minimally invasive interventions for the treatment of all forms of venous disease. 

In January of 2013, with his wife Lynn and a devoted and skillful team, Dr, Shapira was one of the first in the Northeast area to add the “Med spa” concept to his practice, now named First State Vein and Laser Medi-Spa. In the Medi-Spa, located in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, he offers endo-venous laser ablation for treatment of problems associated with venous insufficiency such as varicose veins; mini-phlebectomy; a variety of treatment modalities of spider veins; and injection of Botox and facial fillers. He also offers Smartlipo Triplex, an advanced outpatient laser liposuction combined with skin tightening done under local tumescent anesthesia.

More recently, Dr. Shapira has become intrigued by lipedema, an intractable, progressive, and disabling hereditary disorder of fat deposition, exclusively affecting women. After learning how unaware most U.S. physicians are about this disease, and how few have gained the knowledge to treat it, he decided to address lipedema in his practice. 

After studying in Germany with Dr. Josef Stutz, a renowned German vascular surgeon and one of the world authorities on lipedema, Dr. Shapira now offers Water-Jet Assisted Liposuction (WAL), a lymph-sparing liposuction for lipedema that is the only interventional method available for this disease, to women from all over the United States.

Educated in Israel, Dr. Shapira graduated with his medical degree from The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in 1969. He then relocated to the United States, performing his residency in general surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 1977, his fellowship in  thoracic surgery at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in 1979, and his residency in thoracic surgery at the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education in 1981.

The doctor is board-certified through the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, the American Board of Surgery, and the American Board of Venous & Lymphatic Medicine.

In addition to being a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), Dr. Shapira is a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American College of Phlebology, and the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery.

Venous and lymphatic medicine is the discipline that involves the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic venous and lymphatic disorders, including varicose veins, venous edema, chronic venous insufficiency with skin changes, venous leg ulcers, deep venous disease, pelvic venous insufficiency syndromes, congenital venous malformations, venous thromboembolism, lymphedema and other disorders of venous, lymphatic, and mixed origin. Physicians specializing in this field are called venous and lymphatic medicine specialists. 

Throughout his medical career, Dr. Shapira has been interested in clinical research and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles primarily in the fields of cardiac surgery and interventional pain management. He enjoys tutoring and teaching students and residents, as well as mentoring them in conducting clinical research and preparing presentations and manuscripts for publication. 

Having created surgical innovations, he devised one of the first clinical protocols for retrograde infusion of cardioplegia; trans-diaphragmatic defibrillator implantation. He recently designed a procedure to provide continuous catheter nerve block to patients post blunt chest trauma.

Dr. Shapira is also one of the organizers of the Delaware Medical Relief Team, which flew to Haiti a few days after the devastating 7.0 earthquake there in January of 2010. He participates in the continued relief efforts as the Founder and President of the Haiti-Delaware Alliance Foundation, which provides medical and social assistance to the people of the southeast region of Haiti.

On a more personal note, he speaks both English and Hebrew.

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