Ball valve

The mechanism of the patented wine bottle stopper from 1858 was the inspiration for the development of the ball valve (Halhuber 1989). C.A. Hufnagel, who first described the valve, designed it in 1951 before the introduction of extracorporeal circulation. This valve was used to equalize the pressure of blood reflux in aortic insufficiency (Borst 1978).

The first artificial heart valves available were so-called ball valves (Herold 2018). Nowadays, they are only used very rarely (Mrazek 2021).

Ball valves are among the mechanical heart valves with the longest durability (Halhuber 1989). They are relatively large, so that a lot of space is required for implantation. Examples of a ball valve are the Starr-Edwards valve (Herold 2018) or the Smeloff-Cutter heart valve (Graf von Westphalen 2012).

1. Borst H G, Klinner W, Senning A (1978) Heart and vessels close to the heart. Springer Verlag Berlin / Heidelberg 8
2. Graf von Westphalen G (2012) Heart valve prostheses with ball valve. DocCheck doi: https://www.doccheck.com/de/detail/photos/9724-herzklappenprothesen-mit-kugelventil
3. Halhuber C, Bernardo A (1989) Living well with the new heart valve. Trias Verlag Stuttgart 95
4. Herold G et al. (2018) Internal medicine. Herold publishing house 165
5. Kasper D L, Fauci A S, Hauser S L, Longo D L, Jameson J L, Loscalzo J et al. (2015) Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. Mc Graw Hill Education