The response to valve injury. A paradigm to understand the pathogenesis of heart valve disease

Human heart valve diseases have become an important topic in cardiovascular pathology and medicine. These diseases have different etiologies and manifestations. However, the most common ones including calcific aortic stenosis have histopathological features that are best characterized as a response to tissue injury similar to ones seen in numerous tissues and organs. The valve interstitial cell is the prevalent cell type in the valve and is likely the master cell which ultimately regulates cell and molecular repair processes within the valve that involve autocrine and paracrine processes as well as interactions with the matrix components of the valve. This presentation explores the concept of response to tissue injury in understanding the pathogenesis of calcific aortic stenosis. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc.