The Journal of Heart Valve Disease (ISSN 0966-8519) is the official journal of The Society for Heart Valve Disease. It is indexed/abstracted by Index Medicus, Medline, Medlar, PubMed, Science Citation Index, Scisearch, Research Alert, Biomedical Products, Current Contents/Clinical Medicine. It is issued bi-monthly in one indexed volume by ICR Publishers Ltd., Crispin House, 12A South Approach, Moor Park, Northwood HA6 2ET, United Kingdom. This paper meets the requirements of ANSI standard Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).