University of Cape Town Mitral Valve
date: label: date made
content: 1965
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Also called the toilet plunger valve because of its remarkable resemblance to the inner workings of a toilet, this valve was designed by Christiaan Barnard of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. This valve had been implanted and eventually explanted. Notice the worn and discolored cloth suture, and the wear of the silicone disc. The valve has a low profile and the principal causes of death with this valve were thromboembolism.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Dr. Barnard (1922-2001) was inspired by the way in which the water tank in a toilet functions, and he saw similarities with the human heart. Due to the tiny metal ring which held the 'plunger' in place, clotting occurred. In spite of that, this valve was implanted in humans. In an interview donor Manny Villafana explained, "you've gotta understand that there was no answer (a workable artificial heart valve) and everyone was looking for an answer." This is why the valve was used, in spite of thrombosis and thromboembolism. These issues led to its eventual discontinuation.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Barnard is best known for the dramatic headline grabbing first human-to-human heart transplant in 1967.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: South Africa: Western Cape, Cape Town
topic: label: Subject
content: Cardiology
label: Subject
content: Prosthesis
label: Subject
content: Artificial Organs
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Artificial Heart Valves
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Manuel Villafaña
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0031.19
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0031.19
label: accession number
content: 2015.0031
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cardiology
label: Object Name
content: artificial heart valve
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cloth (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1.9 cm x 3.6 cm; 3/4 in x 1 13/32 in