Hufnagel valve: the first prosthetic mechanical valve.
Dr. Charles Hufnagel, a brilliant Georgetown surgeon, started the golden chapter in the history of heart valve replacement by implanting the first mechanical valve in a human patient on September 11th, 1952. Dr. Hufnagel placed his prosthesis in the descending thoracic aorta of a patient with severe aortic regurgitation. Lefrak and Starr described the first successful human valve implantation as: ‘‘igniting the fire of prosthetic valve implantation’’ [1].