[Long-term survival with Hufnagel ball valve--a case report]

Authors report a 61-year-old female with an aortic aneurysm at the distal end of the Hufnagel ball valve which was implanted surgically for the treatment of aortic insufficiency 23 years previously. The Hufnagel ball valve has been working well for the past 23 years, but the aneurysm was found enlarging in size, therefore the replacement of aneurysm with a 20 mm dacron graft was performed following removal of the well-working Hufnagel ball valve. There were 151 cases with Hufnagel ball valve implantation in the literature and at least 7 cases of them were reported in Japan. Among them, the majority survived only several years after surgery and the cases with long-term survival were very few in number. Our case is unique, because the valve in this case has worked well for 23 years.