I did a lot research before surgery, understanding my "numbers" by reading books and articles. I met with Jeffery Borer a top NYC cardiologist who wrote a book on valvular heart disease. His book helped a lot. I also googled people like David Letterman and Clinton to find out who they were using, and went to see their docs.
The bottom line is experience, as in number of cases and number of years. A cardiologist does not operate, only treats the problem, so getting multiple views to validate a recommendation is a simple thing to do. I saw four different cardiologists before deciding that I needed AVR surgery.
Picking a surgeon is about the same process, but in that case the questions to ask are number of operations performed, number performed last year, and mortality rate. Most quote 30 day mortality rates. Make sure you ask about the exact surgery that would be needed, otherwise a great bypass surgeon may look like a valve guy and have done only 50 in his life. I even spoke with a heart transplant leader, who had much less knowledge and experience in valve replacement then the surgeon that I chose. Ask questions. If they have nothing to hide they will be more than please to answer them. Medical success has been shown to be heavily correlated to experience, not school, grades, or hospital affiliation.
Good luck.
