“The natural history of heart valve disease had not changed in hundreds of years—until Dr. Starr stepped in.”
In September 1960, Albert Starr performed the first successful valve-replacement surgery on a human patient. He placed a mechanical valve in the patient’s heart that he and his collaborator, Lowell Edwards, developed. The patient survived for 10 years. Building on Starr’s success, Alain Carpentier developed a method to use heart valves from pigs. Patients with mechanical valves need to take anticoagulants (blood thinners) for the rest of their lives. Carpentier’s use of natural valves eliminated that need. Starr and Carpentier became good friends and colleagues. They shared the 2007 Lasker Award for the development of prosthetic heart valves; Edwards passed away before the Award was given.
