General Information

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, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, 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).

Subscription rates:
Individual subscription: $300 hard copy and online, $250 hard copy only, $200 online only.
Institutional subscription: $500 hard copy and online, $400 hard copy only, $350 online only. In Japan: contact Nankodo Co. Ltd. 92-6 Hongo 3- Chome Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113. Periodicals postage is paid at Rahway, NJ 07065. The Journal of Heart Valve Disease is published bimonthly by ICR Publishers, Crispin House, 12A South Approach, Moor Park, Northwood HA6 2ET, UK. POSTMASTER send changes to: The Journal of Heart Disease c/o US Mailing agent, Mercury International, 365 Blair Rd, Avenel, NJ 07001.

Inquires about single copies, back issues, claims for missing copies, report of changes of address should be directed to:
ICR Publishers Ltd., Crispin House, 12A South Approach, Moor Park, Northwood HA6 2ET, United Kingdom. In Japan: Nankodo Co. Ltd. 92-6 Hongo 3-Chome Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113.

Claims for missing issues will be accepted for up to three months. However, no claim will be honored if ICR Publishers were not notified of change of address and the delivery was made to the original address.

Manuscripts should be sent to
The Editor
The Journal of Heart Valve Disease
St Joseph's Hospital,
Division of Cardiovascular Surgery
69 West Exchange Street
St Paul, MN 55102, USA
Telephone: 651-254-4130; Fax: 651-326-8265
e-mail:
For editorial issues: rwemery@healtheast.org
For all other issues: icrfinance@aol.com

Reprint: The minimum number of reprints that can be ordered is 500 copies per article. Orders for smaller quantities will be accepted only exceptionally, and they will not be subsidized by the publisher. However, all corresponding authors will receive, by e-mail, the .PDF file of the article, which they can print in as many copies as necessary to provide hard copies for themselves, for the co-authors and others interested in receiving a reprint. This service will be automatic and free of charge. These reprints, however, must not be used for any commercial purposes.
Orders for 500 copies or larger quantities should be sent to ICR Publishers, Crispin House, 12A South Approach, Moor Park, Northwood HA6 2ET, United Kingdom.

Advertising: Inquires should be made to: ICR Publishers, Crispin House, 12A South Approach, Moor Park, Northwood HA6 2ET, United Kingdom. Telephone: 44 1923 836 871, fax: 44 1923 836 872 e-mail: icrfinance@cs.com

All advertising material published in The Journal of Heart Valve Disease is expected to conform to ethical/ medical standards. However, the inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement by the Editors or the Publisher of the quality or value of such product or of the claim made for it by its manufacturer.

Copyright©: The Journal of Heart Valve Disease, all publications in it whether in toto or in part are protected by copyright held by ICR Publishers Ltd. The Publisher reserves all rights. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the Publisher. Notwithstanding the aforementioned restrictions, the Publisher grants consent for the copying of articles for personal or internal use. This consent does not extend to any other kinds of copying, such as for resale, advertising, commercial promotion, general distribution or inclusion into new collective work.

Disclaimer: The Journal of Heart Valve Disease endeavours to publish only material representing the highest scientific standards. However, by publishing any material in any format in the Journal, no responsibility is assumed by the Editors and the Publisher for any damage or injury to institution, person or property in any way, including but not limited to product liability, negligence or otherwise, particularly if resulting from the use of any product, method, whether preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic, ideas, explicit or implicit suggestions or instructions. Any device/ equipment/pharmaceutical should be used and any procedure should be implemented solely on the responsibility of the acting physician. Results, opinions, recommendations, or any other statements published in The Journal of Heart Valve Disease represent the authors’ view and, unless specifically stated otherwise, not the official policy of the Journal or The Society for Heart Valve Disease.