The article contains the review of current understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of degenerative aortic stenosis, approaches to surgical treatment depending on various factors, e. g. severity of defect and comorbidity, description of endovascular techniques (balloon valvuloplasty and transcatheter aortic valve implantation), and features of the selection of patients for these procedures. The authors also present assessment of results of operations performed from 2011 to 2016 in the city hospital № 2 in Saint-Petersburg. They analyze data from 72 high-risk aortic stenosis patients aged 81±6 years treated with transcatheter aortic valve implantation. In 68 out of 72 patients (94.4 %) clinical improvement was achieved with reduction of dilation of left ventricular cavity, decrease of functional class of heart failure, and decrease of mean pressure gradient across the aortic valve. A conclusion is made that these results confirm advantages and perspectives of the use of endovascular methods of treatment in this complicated group of patients.