**1. Introduction**

The title of the book "Aortic Valve Disease" was selected with the intent to discuss etiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of aortic valve disease with a focus on recent advances. Selected clinicians and investigators were invited to submit chapter proposals, once received, suitable proposals were accepted. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the subject, describe the normal anatomy of the aortic valve apparatus, review the prevalence of different types of aortic valve diseases, and address topics not adequately dealt with in the other chapters in the book.

Several advances in the understanding of the anatomy of the aortic valve, the development of investigative tests to diagnose and quantitate the magnitude of aortic valve disease, and multiple modalities to treat the aortic valve disease have occurred over the last five decades. The objective of this book was to bring some of these advances to the attention of the reader. While surgical therapy of aortic valve disease has been in vogue since the early 1950s, catheter-based interventional techniques introduced in the early 1980s became initial management options at many institutions. This book will address the anatomy of the normal and diseased aortic valve; explore the utility of diagnostic tests such as echocardiogram, Doppler interrogation, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, cardiac catheterization, and selective cine angiography; and review the relative usefulness of catheter-based vs. surgical techniques in addressing the aortic valve disease. Finally, a discussion of both short-term and long-term results of catheter interventional and surgical therapeutic modalities was included.
