Low profile transcatheter heart valve

An assembly comprising:

• a delivery catheter comprising a balloon;
• and
• an implantable prosthetic heart valve that is radially collapsible to a collapsed configuration and radially expandable to an expanded configuration, the prosthetic heart valve comprising:
• a radially collapsible and expandable annular frame, the frame having an inflow end, an outflow end, three commissure attachment portions and a plurality of circumferentially extending rows of angled struts, each row of angled struts comprising angled struts arranged in a zig-zag pattern;
• a leaflet structure comprising three leaflets, each leaflet having an upper edge, a lower edge and two side flaps, wherein each side flap is connected to an adjacent side flap of another leaflet to form commissures of the leaflet structure, each commissure being attached to one of the commissure attachment portions;
• and
• an annular skirt positioned between the annular frame and the leaflet structure, the skirt comprising a lower edge and an upper edge, the lower edge of each leaflet sutured to the skirt with a stitch line that forms an undulating path that extends along the lower edge of each leaflet from a first location proximate one of the commissures and the upper edge of the skirt toward the inflow end of the frame and then back toward the outflow end of the frame to a second location proximate another commissure and the upper edge of the skirt,
• wherein the collapsed prosthetic heart valve can be mounted around the balloon and radially expanded to the expanded configuration with the balloon inside a patient's body;
• wherein the upper edge of the skirt comprises an undulating pattern shaped to correspond to the zig-zag pattern of one of the rows of angled struts;
• wherein the rows of angled struts comprise a first row of angled struts defining an inflow end of the frame, a second row of angled struts downstream of the first row, and a third row of angled struts downstream of the second row and defining an outflow end of the frame;
• wherein the upper edge of the skirt is sutured to the struts of the second row of angled struts and the lower edge of the skirt is sutured to the struts of the first row of angled struts;
• wherein the upper edge of the skirt is sutured to each strut of the second row of struts with a suture comprising a plurality of suture loops extending around the strut and through the upper edge of the skirt.

An assembly comprising:

• a delivery catheter comprising a balloon;
• and
• an implantable prosthetic heart valve that is radially collapsible to a collapsed configuration and radially expandable to an expanded configuration, the prosthetic heart valve comprising:
• a radially collapsible and expandable annular frame, the frame having an inflow end, an outflow end, three commissure attachment portions and a plurality of circumferentially extending rows of angled struts, each row of angled struts comprising angled struts arranged in a zig-zag pattern;
• a leaflet structure comprising three leaflets, each leaflet having an upper edge, a lower edge and two side flaps, wherein each side flap is connected to an adjacent side flap of another leaflet to form commissures of the leaflet structure, each commissure being attached to one of the commissure attachment portions;
• and
• an annular skirt positioned between the annular frame and the leaflet structure, the skirt comprising a lower edge and an upper edge, the lower edge of each leaflet sutured to the skirt with a stitch line that forms an undulating path that extends along the lower edge of each leaflet from a first location proximate one of the commissures and the upper edge of the skirt toward the inflow end of the frame and then back toward the outflow end of the frame to a second location proximate another commissure and the upper edge of the skirt,
• wherein the collapsed prosthetic heart valve can be mounted around the balloon and radially expanded to the expanded configuration with the balloon inside a patient's body;
• wherein the upper edge of the skirt comprises an undulating pattern shaped to correspond to the zig-zag pattern of one of the rows of angled struts;
• wherein the rows of angled struts comprise a first row of angled struts defining an inflow end of the frame, a second row of angled struts downstream of the first row, and a third row of angled struts downstream of the second row and defining an outflow end of the frame;
• wherein the upper edge of the skirt is sutured to the struts of the second row of angled struts and the lower edge of the skirt is sutured to the struts of the first row of angled struts;
• wherein the lower edge of the skirt is shaped to conform to the contour of the first row of angled struts.

An assembly comprising:

• a delivery catheter comprising a balloon;
• and
• an implantable prosthetic heart valve that is radially collapsible to a collapsed configuration and radially expandable to an expanded configuration, the prosthetic heart valve comprising:
• a radially collapsible and expandable annular frame, the frame having three commissure attachment portions and a plurality of circumferentially extending rows of angled struts, each row of angled struts comprising angled struts arranged in a zig-zag pattern, wherein the rows of angled struts comprise a first row of angled struts defining an inflow end of the frame, a second row of angled struts downstream of the first row, and a third row of angled struts downstream of the second row and defining an outflow end of the frame;
• a leaflet structure comprising three leaflets, each leaflet having an upper edge, a lower edge and two side flaps, wherein each side flap has a height that is less than an overall height of the leaflet, wherein the lower edge extends from a lower end of one of the side flaps to a lower end of the other side flap, wherein each leaflet has a width that decreases from the lower ends of the side flaps to a lowermost end of the leaflet, wherein the lowermost end of each leaflet is located at the first row of angled struts, wherein each side flap is connected to an adjacent side flap of another leaflet to form commissures of the leaflet structure, each commissure being attached to one of the commissure attachment portions;
• and
• an annular skirt positioned between the annular frame and the leaflet structure, the skirt comprising a lower edge sutured to the struts of the first row of angled struts and an upper edge sutured to the struts of the third row of angled struts;
• wherein the lower edge of each leaflet is sutured to the skirt along a stitch line;
• wherein the collapsed prosthetic heart valve can be mounted around the balloon and radially expanded to the expanded configuration with the balloon inside a patient's body.