The artificial heart valve - 38 and going strong
Two artificial heart valves get top billing in the New England Journal of Medicine this week. Two video clips of two artificial heart valves can be viewed in the journal’s website. What is so special about these two valves is that they were implanted 38 years ago in a Canadian woman who is now 67 years old. And they are still working well - and going strong.
The Starr-Edwards artificial valve was developed by the surgeon Albert Starr and the retired engineer Miles Lowell Edwards. The first one was implanted in a heart patient in 1960. Since then, over a quarter of a million heart patients got the implants. More →
Raquel Billiones has a PhD in Biology and has over 15 years experience as a researcher, scientific English teacher, and medical writer. Since 2006, she has been a freelance WAHM specializing in medical writing and scientific documentation. 
