Aortic valvular heart disease: Is there a place for angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors?

Aortic valve disease (AVD) is the most common form of valvular heart disease in the western world. The only proven therapy for severe AVD is open aortic valve replacement, with trans-catheter aortic valve implantation emerging as a promising modality to treat severe aortic stenosis in a selected group of patients. AVD has a long asymptomatic phase with symptoms occurring late in the disease and once symptoms develop, prognosis is poor.