The role of statins in vascular and valvular calcification

Abstract

Vascular calcification, such as coronary and aortic calcification, is a significant feature of vascular pathology, since this lesion is associated with cardiovascular disease. Statins are potent serum cholesterol-reducing drugs, which decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Besides reducing serum cholesterol levels, statins are shown to decrease the rate of coronary artery calcification by unidentified mechanism. Though previous observational studies have shown that statins decrease the rate of calcific aortic valve stenosis, recent prospective study have revealed that statins are not effective against the progression of calcific aortic stenosis. We need to establish the role of statins in the prevention of aortic valve stenosis with long-term, large-scale, randomized controlled study.