Pathophysiology, Evaluation and Management of Valvular Heart Diseases: Developed from "Valves in the Heart of the Big Apple: Evaluation and Management of Valvular Heart Diseases", New York, NY, May 2001, Vol. 39 Book

	Introduction
	The Epidemiology of Valvular Heart Disease: An Emerging Public Health Problem	1
	The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Heart Failure in Regurgitant Valvular Diseases: The Myocardial Extracellular Matrix as a Building Block for Future Therapy	7
	Emerging Biology of Mitral Regurgitation: Implications for Further Therapy	15
	Aortic Valve Disease - Etiology and the Role of Vascular Pathology: Is the Face of the Disease Changing?	25
	Atrial Fibrillation and Valve Disease	39
	Selection of Patients with Aortic Stenosis for Operation: The Asymptomatic Patient and the Patient with Poor LV Function	49
	The Value of Myocardial Perfusion Imaging for Diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Aortic Valve Stenosis	61
	Congenital Aortic Stenosis: Is Repair an Option?	70
	Aortic Regurgitation: Selection of Asymptomatic Patients for Valve Surgery	74
	Surgical Approaches When Aortic Regurgitation Is Associated with Aortic Root Disease	86
	Technique and Results of the Modified Ross Procedure in Aortic Regurgitation versus Aortic Stenosis	93
	Percutaneous Mitral Balloon Valvuloplasty. Does It Really Last as Long and Do as Well as Surgery?	100
	Mitral Commissurotomy and Valve Replacement for Mitral Stenosis: Observations on Selection of Surgical Procedures	114
	Mitral Regurgitation: Natural History in Operated and Unoperated Patients	122
	Complications of Mitral Valve Prolapse	130
	Mitral Regurgitation: Predictors of Outcome and Natural History	133
	Importance of Right Ventricular Performance Measurement in Selecting Asymptomatic Patients with Mitral Regurgitation for Valve Surgery	144
	Mitral Valve Repair for Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation	153
	Concomitant Mitral Repair at the Time of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting - The 'Con' Point of View	157
	Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery: Evolution of Technique and Clinical Results	164
	Blood Conservation: Is it Working?	173
	Emerging Role of Complementary Medicine in Valvular Surgery	184
	Factors Determining Selection of Valve Prosthesis - Tissue or Mechanical: Current Status	189
	Selective Aspects of Infective Endocarditis: Considerations on Diagnosis, Risk Factors, Treatment and Prophylaxis	195
	Echocardiographic Assessment of the Vegetation: Are There Characteristics that Mandate Prophylactic Surgical Intervention?	203
	Author Index	210
	Subject Index	211