Between Feb. 1982 and July 1990, 173 patients [male: 89, female: 84] Who underwent heart valve replacement for acquired valvular heart disease on the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, were reviewed for return to work after heart valve replacement. The replaced valve were mitral [128, 74.0%], aortic[10, 5.8%], mitral & aortic[35, 20.2%]. Two tricuspid valve replacement were excluded. Several important factors influencing the return to work were age, the employment status before surgery, the number of replaced valve, the pre - op NYHA functional class and cardiac function [ejection fraction]. These factors were closely related to the optimal time of heart valve replacement. It can be concluded that the rate of return to work and the quality of life would be improved if valve replacement were performed at an earlier stage of valvular heart disease.