Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is the most common type of valvular heart disease in the Western world. Due to the aging of the population, the impact of this disorder is expected to further increase in the next decades. The underlying pathophysiology remains incompletely defined and there are currently no effective medical treatments capable of altering its course, identifying a major unmet need in this growing population of patients.~Based on the similarities between CAVD and atherosclerosis in pathophysiology and shared risk factors, it is now hypothesized that activation of the innate immune system contributes to the development of CAVD. Therefore, the investigators will perform an observational study to assess the role of activation of the innate immune system in CAVD.
Investigators plan to characterize systemic inflammation and circulating immune cells in participants with moderate and severe calcific aortic valve disease and matched healthy controls.