Modified Transcatheter Hufnagel Procedure as a Bridge to Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement.

Abstract

The history of aortic valve surgery began with the Hufnagel procedure. In 1953, Hufnagel reported the first successful treatment of aortic insufficiency by the implantation of a ball-valve prosthesis into the descending aorta. We present a 33-year-old male patient with a complicated surgical history needing a sixth-time redo aortic valve replacement for severe prosthetic paravalvular leak in the presence of fresh intracranial hemorrhage. His deteriorating clinical picture was successfully temporized by a transcatheter valve placement in the descending aorta (modified Hufnagel procedure). This report illustrates a potential role of a modified Hufnagel procedure as a bridge to definitive surgery.