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World J Cardiol. Aug 26, 2017; 9(8): 667-672
Published online Aug 26, 2017. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v9.i8.667
Is there evidence for statins in the treatment of aortic valve stenosis?
Ibrahim Akin, Christoph A Nienaber
Ibrahim Akin, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University Heidelberg, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
Christoph A Nienaber, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Trust, London SW3 6NP, United Kingdom
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest for all authors.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Ibrahim Akin, Professor, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany. ibrahim.akin@umm.de
Telephone: +49-621-3835229 Fax: +49-621-3832012
Received: December 31, 2016
Peer-review started: January 7, 2017
First decision: February 17, 2017
Revised: February 21, 2017
Accepted: June 6, 2017
Article in press: June 8, 2017
Published online: August 26, 2017
Processing time: 236 Days and 1.6 Hours
Abstract

Research revealed that the pathogenesis of aortic stenosis (AS) not merely comprises of a mechanical wear and tear process yet that active biological processes, similar to those of coronary artery disease are involved, a promising role for statins in disease-modifying therapy was suggested. However, recently, many prospective studies could not observe decreased progression nor regression of the disease. Here, we review the current knowledge on the pathomechanisms of AS and its similarities and differences with atherosclerosis. Moreover, we discuss whether there is still a place for statins in the treatment of particular AS patient subgroups.

Keywords: Aortic stenosis; Statins; HMG-CoA enzyme inhibitor; Coronary artery stenosis; Aortic valve surgery

Core tip: Aortic stenosis is a age-dependent and growing disease. As there are several similarities with atherosclerotic disease of other regions there are growing research on underlying pathopyhsiology. The treatment benefit of classic atherosclerosis treatment is evaluated in case of aortic valve stenosis.