Collapsible and re-expandable prosthetic heart valve cuff designs and complementary technological applications

A method of implanting a prosthetic heart valve to a target site in a patient, comprising:

• providing a prosthetic heart valve for replacement of a native heart valve having a native valve annulus, comprising a laser cut stent body formed of a non-woven unitary structure having a proximal end adjacent an inflow end and a distal end adjacent an outflow end and including an annulus section, the stent body having a radially collapsed condition and a radially expanded condition and the non-woven unitary structure defining a plurality of cells cut out from the stent body formed from interconnected cell struts, one or more prosthetic valve elements mounted to the stent body and operative to allow flow in an antegrade direction from the inflow end to the outflow end but to substantially block flow in a retrograde direction from the outflow end to the inflow end, a cuff coupled to the stent body, the cuff having a mobile portion, and at least one engagement element remote from the stent body;
• engaging native tissue with the at least one engagement element;
• and
• moving the mobile portion of the cuff relative to the stent body.