I get my INR checked every month, and the last 2 months it has been 3.0, with the last check being this morning. I have always thought that anybody with a St Jude mechanical valve would have a target range of 2.5 to 3.5. This has been my understanding for the 35 years I have had the valve. Actually, I have a St Jude valve prosthesis, which of course is a St Jude valve inserted into a Dacron mesh tube that replaced a damaged aorta due to an aneurysm. I was wondering what others in here understand to be the target value for this type of valve prosthesis? I asked my cardiologist, and he deferred me to my primary care physician, who is hard to get a hold of right now because he has one foot in the door of retirement and is not very active in his practice anymore. I am in the process of getting a new primary care physician, which can be a hassle. So my question is, what range do you understand to be the proper Target range?