[50th anniversary of the first aortic valve implantation].

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first aortic valve prosthesis implanted in the descending aorta on September 11, 1952 by Dr. Charles A. Hufnagel at the Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. At this time, before the era of the heart-lung machines with extracorporeal circulation, there was no surgical therapy for patients with aortic insufficiency. Hufnagel implanted his plexiglas ball valve prosthesis, providing a significant hemodynamic improvement to the patients and opening the field of cardiac valve replacement.