The first two selections are collections of several articles in single journal issues that provide the latest information on valve surgery. We have provided the journal reference information but have not hyperlinked them through the internet Medline search engine.

Cohn LH (guest editor). Prosthetic aortic valves. Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 1996;8:230-75.

Several authors have contributed to the first section (dedicated to aortic valve surgery), including Emery, Arom and Nicoloff (St. Jude valve); Copeland (Carbomedics valve); Akins (Medtronic-Hall valve); Doty (homograft and autograft); Fann and Miller (porcine valves); and Cosgrove (pericardial valve).

VIth International Symposium on Cardiac Bioprosthesis. Annals of Thoracic Surgery 1995;60 (suppl):S61-488.

Jamieson and David provide the introduction for the complete set of articles from the symposium, many of which are directed to aortic valve surgery. Topics include allograft, autograft, stented and stentless heterografts, and comparison of mechanical and biological prostheses.

Antunes MJ. Valve replacement in the elderly. Is the mechanical valve a good alternative? Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 1989;98:485-91.

Although not specific to aortic valve disease, this article is a nice review of mechanical valve outcomes in the elderly population.

John S, Ravikumar E, Jairaj PS, Chowdhury U, Krishnaswami S. Valve replacement in the young patient with rheumatic heart disease. Review of a twenty-year experience. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 1990;99:631-8.

Again, not specific to aortic valve surgery, but an interesting perspective on this problem in the young patient population.

Chapter 12: Aortic Valve Disease. Cardiac Surgery (Kirklin and Barratt-Boyes), 2nd ed., 491-572.

Chapter 120: Aortic Valve Disease and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathies. Glenn's Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (Baue, Geha, Hammond, Laks, and Naunheim), 6th ed., 1981-2004.