Evolution of mechanical heart valves

The need for prosthetic heart valves was long recognized but seemed an impossible dream before 1952 when Dr Charles Hufnagel clinically introduced a ball valve that he placed into the descending thoracic aorta for treatment of aortic valvular insufficiency. Fulfillment of that dream became a reality with the advent of extracorporeal circulation in the early 1950s. Development of prosthetic heart valves involved the search for biologically compatible materials and hemologically tolerant designs. Success could not be achieved without the union of these two factors. As there was no satisfactory mechanism to scientifically achieve this goal, trial and error was the method of choice. The development of prosthetic heart valves became the purview of the cardiovascular surgeon who often collaborated with engineers. To distinguish one valve from another each prosthesis often became identified with the surgeon developer. The development of bioprostheses occurred later in the development of artificial heart valves and constitutes a separate subject not covered in this presentation.