Degenerative heart valve disease is an emerging health problem with broad consequences. The prevalence of valvular heart disease is estimated at 2.5% in industrialized nations. The increased prevalence of valvular disease with age reflects the predominance of degenerative etiologies. Although widely used, the term “degenerative valve disease” encompasses heterogeneous lesions with regard to pathophysiological, macroscopic, and histological involvement of the valves. Calcific aortic valve disease is a form of degenerative valve disease. Its early stage is called aortic sclerosis and it may progress to the later stage – aortic stenosis. Calcific aortic valve disease is an active biological process marked by basement membrane disruption, inflammatory cell infiltration, lipid deposition, and calcification. The prevalence of aortic stenosis is estemated at 0.4% but it increases to 2.8% after 75 years of age. Symptomatic aortic stenosis has a poor outcome, inoperable patients have a mortality of 50% at 1 year. TAVI is associated with a significant reduction in symptoms and mortality in inoperable patients. Degenerative mitral valve disease is a pathologic condition in which the mitral valve leaflets and chordae are thickened due to abnormal accumulations of glycosaminoglycans. Degenerative lesions, such as chordal elongation, chordal rupture, leaflet tissue expansion, and annular dilation typically result in mitral regurgitation due to leaflet prolapse. At 10 years, 90% of patients with a severe mitral regurgitation had either died or undergone surgical repair. Echocardiography is the gold standard for diagnosis of degenerative valve disease. Despite the increasing prevalence of degenerative valve disease, there are no medical therapies to halt or delay disease progression, and the only available treatment is valve replacement or repair, to which not all patients are suited.