Stents for prosthetic heart valves and methods of making same

A method of forming a tubular stent having a single-piece construction for a prosthetic heart valve, the method comprising:

• providing a generally flat stent blank including a plurality of flanges, wherein;
• each of the flanges defines a first edge member, a second edge member opposite the first edge member, and a first arc portion that defines a portion of an outer edge of the blank and extends between the first and second edge members,
• the first arc portions of circumferentially adjacent ones of the flanges are circumferentially spaced from one another,
• the first edge member of a first one of the flanges and the second edge member of a second one of the flanges extend from the corresponding, first arc portion and are directly connected to one another at a tip to define a V-shaped structure,
• the first edge member of the first one of the flanges and the second edge member of the second one of the flanges are free of direct connection to one another other than at the tip;
• applying heat to the stent blank while bending the stent blank to form a tubular stent having a plurality of commissure posts extending generally along a longitudinal axis of the tubular stent.