Hufnagel Tri-Leaflet Aortic Heart Valve
Hufnagel Tri-Leaflet Aortic Heart Valve
- Description (Brief)
- This trileaflet valve which looks similar to a natural human heart valve was developed by Charles Hufnagel, MD. It is coated in hepacone, silicone rubber impregnated with heparin, and is a size 5 with a diameter of 33mm. Hufnagel believed the trileaflet design would prove to be superior to the ball and cage heart valve because it provided better dynamics. The base of the valve was designed to fit the shape of the aorta when implanted. The leaflets or cusps were made of polypropylene and coated with silicone rubber at high pressure. A 1975 study of patients who had received this prostheses determined that the Hufnagel trileaflet valve was not durable enough to withstand constant blood flow. In a majority of cases, patients died due to prosthetic degeneration or thrombosis. Other problems included aortic regurgitation and stenosis. The Hufnagel tri-leaflet valve was distributed by Codman and Shurtleff, Inc. of Randolph, Massachusetts and manufactured by Heyer-Schulte Corporation.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- cardiology
- artificial heart valve
- date made
- after 1967
- distributor
- Codman and Shurtleff Incorporated
- Physical Description
- plastic (container material)
- polypropylene mesh (valve material)
- silicone rubber (valve material)
- Measurements
- container: 3.2 cm x 5.4 cm x 5.4 cm; 1 1/4 in x 2 1/8 in x 2 1/8 in
- valve: 2 cm x 3 cm; 25/32 in x 1 3/16 in
- ID Number
- 2015.0031.11
- catalog number
- 2015.0031.11
- accession number
- 2015.0031
- serial number
- 850
- Credit Line
- Gift of Manuel Villafaña
- subject
- Cardiology
- Prosthesis
- Artificial Organs
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Artificial Heart Valves
- Health & Medicine
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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