Starr-Edwards Heart Valve
date: label: date made
content: about 1965
name: label: maker
content: Edwards Laboratories
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This artificial mitral caged-ball heart valve was developed by engineer M. Lowell Edwards and Dr. Edward Starr (born 1926). After attempts at trying to design a bileaflet artificial heart valve Edwards abandoned the idea of trying to replicate a natural looking valve. Instead they designed a caged ball device for the replacement of the mitral valve. It was the first long-term successful replacement with a mitral caged ball valve. It was manufactured by Edwards Laboratories, in Santa Ana, California.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In the 1950s and 1960s, rheumatic fever was still a serious problem. When left untreated it caused damage to the mitral valve, stenosis (narrowing of the valve opening) regurgitation (leakage of blood) or prolapse (billowing of the mitral leaflets).
label: Description (Brief)
content: The first implantation of a Starr-Edwards valve took place in the summer of 1960. It had a Lucite cage, and a silicone ball or <i>poppet</i>.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In the 1960s and 1970s five Starr-Edwards ball valves were developed including ones in which the metal struts were covered in Teflon.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The Oregon Health and Science University has an archival and artifact collection documenting the development of the Starr-Edwards heart valve.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Associated Place
content: United States: California, Santa Ana
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Dr. Patrick K. C. Chun
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1981.0731.08
label: accession number
content: 1981.0731
label: catalog number
content: 1981.0731.08
label: model number
content: 6520
label: serial number
content: S 8997
objectType: label: Object Name
content: valve
label: Object Name
content: cardiology
label: Other Terms
content: Surgery
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 3/8 in x 2 1/8 in; 6.0325 cm x 5.3975 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3.1 cm x 2.6 cm; 1 1/4 in x 1 in