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Viking Björk

1918 – 2009

Swedish surgeon

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About Viking Björk

Lived 1918 – 2009 (aged 90). Viking Björk was a Swedish surgeon.

Viking Olov Björk (3 December 1918, in Sunnansjö, Dalarna – 18 February 2009) was a Swedish cardiac surgeon.

Early life and education Björk wrote his dissertation in 1948, titled "Brain perfusion in dogs with artificially oxygenated blood".

Björk–Shiley valve

In 1968, he collaborated with American engineer Donald Shiley to develop the Björk–Shiley valve, a mechanical prosthetic heart valve. It was the first "tilting disc valve", used to replace the aortic or mitral valve. Many modifications followed, including the convexo-concave valve. The convexo-concave valve had defects in form of strut fractures. Therefore, the monostrut valve was introduced to prevent outflow strut fractures.

The Bjork–Shiley valve was manufactured by Pfizer after they bought the Shiley company in 1979. In 1980 Björk wrote to Pfizer threatening to publish cases of valve failures—often fatal to the patients—unless corrective action was taken. This eventually led to long lawsuit that involved the recall of all existing valves and Pfizer allocating up to US$20 million to pay compensation.

Death Björk died on 18 February 2009 in Stockholm.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Nationality
Employers
Karolinska Institutet, Uppsala University
Also known as
Viking Olov Björk

People in Viking Björk's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Viking Björk's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Viking Björk?

Swedish surgeon (1918–2009)

When was Viking Björk born?

Viking Björk was born on 3 December 1918.

When did Viking Björk die?

Viking Björk died on 18 February 2009.

What was Viking Björk's occupation?

Viking Björk was a surgeon.

What nationality was Viking Björk?

Viking Björk was Swedish.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Viking Björk

· Wikidata: Q1907254

· DBpedia: Viking Björk

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Viking Björk. https://biography.guide/viking-bjork/

MLA: "Viking Björk." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/viking-bjork/.

Chicago: "Viking Björk." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/viking-bjork/.

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