Heart Valve Surgery

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first artificial heart valve, which was implanted in 1952 by Charles Hufnagel to treat a 30-year-old woman with severe aortic regurgitation in an era when the concept of direct valve repair or replacement did not exist. It is remarkable how far we have come since then in terms of managing heart valve disease, not only in terms of advances in surgical techniques or choice of prostheses for different valve pathology but also in terms of transcatheter therapy and minimally invasive surgical approaches. This book reviews important and major milestones in managing different valve pathologies with a focus on aortic and tricuspid valve diseases.