Artificial heart valve Artificial heart valve An artificial heart valve is a device implanted in the heart of a patient with valvular heart disease. When one of the four heart valves malfunctions, the medical choice may be to replace the natural valve with an artificial valve. This requires open-heart surgery. Valves are integral to the normal physiological functioning of the human heart. Natural heart valves are evolved to forms that perform the functional requirement of inducing unidirectional blood flow through the valve structure from one chamber of the heart to another. Natural heart valves become dysfunctional for a variety of pathological causes. Some
Domingo Liotta Shared with Jesús Zerbini (Brazil). 1970: Decoration, Great Cross of Alphonse The Wise (Gran Cruz de Alfonso el Sabio), the highest Spanish civil decoration. Shared with Denton A. Cooley. 1971: Decoration, Order Legion of Merit, Government of the Province of Entre Rios, Argentina. 1973: Professor of Surgery (Honorary), National University of Córdoba, Argentina. 1973: Decoration, Attending Cardiovascular Surgeon of Chinese Hospitals and Consultant of the Ministry of Public Health. Designated by the National State Council of the People's Republic of China. The Council was presided by Premier Chu En-lai. 1974: Decoration, Gran Cavallieri d'Onore for Humanitarian Services, Rome, Italy, the