Calcific aortic stenosis, a hardening of one of the heart's valves and the major cause of heart valve replacement, affects 3 percent of adults over age 75. No drug treatments exist for the disease, though it shares symptoms with other cardiovascular ailments including those treated by cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. Because of these similar symptoms, researchers from Edinburgh, Scotland, wondered if statins would work to treat calcific aortic stenosis too.

What the researchers wanted to know: Do statins stop or reverse calcific aortic stenosis?

What they did: Researchers split 155 patients with varying degrees of calcific aortic stenosis into two groups; one group of patients received a single statin dose daily while the other received a placebo. Patients participated in the study for a minimum of two years. During that time, doctors checked the progress of the disease every two to six months.

What they found: While blood cholesterol levels fell dramatically in the group of patients who took statins when compared with the placebo group, the other symptoms of calcific aortic stenosis, including the hardening of the aortic valve, remained similar for both groups. The numbers of aortic-valve replacements, deaths from cardiovascular disease, and hospitalization for severe aortic stenosis were also similar for both the statin and placebo groups.

What this study means to you: While statins work extremely well to lower cholesterol and to treat some types of vascular disease, they may not work to treat calcific aortic stenosis. If you have been diagnosed with this condition, the most common treatment is surgical valve replacement. Usually, doctors will monitor the disease and discuss options with the patient as it progresses.

Caveats: The two to three years of treatment in this study may be too short a time period to see the benefits of statins for patients with calcific aortic stenosis. A longer study might have shown more positive results. Though the statins may prove more beneficial if taken at the onset of the disease, the early symptoms of calcific aortic stenosis are difficult to detect.

Find out more: The Mayo Clinic website contains information on aortic stenosis and other cardiovascular diseases. The American Heart Association website has a page on cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins.

Read the article: Cowell, S.J., et al. "A Randomized Trial of Intensive Lipid-Lowering Therapy in Calcific Aortic Stenosis." New England Journal of Medicine. June 2005, Vol. 352, No. 23, pp. 2389-2397.

Abstract online: http://content.nejm.org