The first artificial aortic valve was successfully fitted on a 30-year-old patient on this date in 1952. The valve, made of the same material as a toothbrush handle, was created and inserted by Charles Anthony Hufnagel, M.D., at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The procedure had been tested on dogs for about six years. The aortic valve is one of four heart valves that regulate the continuous pumping of blood through the circulatory system.

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