The technical evolution of cardiac surgery in the last decades has been rewarded with long-term survival with few complications. A matching improvement in the quality of this survival as subjectively felt by the patient has now become most important to assess the justification of surgery. This book is the summary of the proceedings of an international symposium which addressed the growing demand in this facet of cardiac surgery. For the first time quality of life after valve replacement, coronary bypass, surgery for congenital heart disease, and heart transplantation has been extensively analyzed in terms of the physiological state, intellectual functioning, emotional state, performance of social roles and general satisfaction. The patient's well-being has become the focus of a joint effort of cardiologists, surgeons, general practitioners, psychologists, sociologists and occupational physicians, for all of whom this book offers a guide to the improvement of our patients' `Quality of life after open heart surgery'.