Prosthetic heart valves

A prosthetic heart valve comprising:

• a radially expandable and collapsible annular frame comprising a plurality of intersecting struts coupled together at pivot joints, wherein radial expansion or contraction of the annular frame causes the intersecting struts to pivot relative to one another at the pivot joints;
• and
• a valvular structure mounted within the frame that regulates blood flow through the prosthetic heart valve, the valvular structure comprising three leaflets;
• and
• a scallop line infrastructure that comprises three scallop line elements, with each of the three scallop line elements being attached to a scalloped edge of a respective one of the three leaflets;
• wherein each of the scallop line elements comprises two opposing end portions and a central portion between the two opposing end portions, wherein the end portions are attached to the frame along with lateral ends of the leaflets at commissures, and wherein the central portions of the scallop line elements are attached to the scalloped edges of the leaflets and are free of the frame;
• wherein the scalloped edges of the leaflets are coupled to segments of the struts of the frame via suture loops, and the strut segments to which the suture loops are coupled are oriented transverse to the scalloped edges of the leaflets.

A prosthetic heart valve comprising:

• a radially expandable and collapsible annular frame comprising a plurality of intersecting struts coupled together at pivot joints, wherein radial expansion or contraction of the annular frame causes the intersecting struts to pivot relative to one another at the pivot joints, and wherein the struts of the frame comprise plural strut segments between the pivot joints;
• and
• a valvular structure mounted within the frame that regulates blood flow through the prosthetic heart valve, the valvular structure comprising plural leaflets that each have commissure ends and scalloped edges extending between the commissure ends;
• wherein each scalloped edge is coupled to adjacent segments of intersecting struts via sliding suture loops, the adjacent segments joining at a common pivot joint of the pivot joints, wherein the sliding suture loops are permitted to slide along the adjacent segments both toward and away from the common pivot joint.