Balloon expandable stent with symmetrical crimped configuration for transcatheter implantation of a cardiac valve prosthesis

A prosthesis comprising:

• a stent having a crimped configuration for delivery within a vasculature and an expanded configuration for deployment within a native heart valve, the stent including:
• a plurality of axial frame members,
• an inflow portion including at least three rows of struts and crowns formed between adjacent pairs of the struts, wherein the at least three rows of the inflow portion are formed between an inflow end of the axial frame members and an inflow end of the stent, and
• an outflow portion formed proximate to an outflow end of the stent and including a single row of struts and crowns formed between adjacent pair of the struts, the outflow portion being coupled to an outflow end of the axial frame members, wherein exactly two struts of the plurality of struts of the outflow portion are disposed between adjacent axial frame members,
• wherein each axial frame member extends in an axial direction along a longitudinal axis of the stent from a crown of the inflow portion to at least a crown of the outflow portion, each axial frame member having a first end adjacent to a crown of the inflow portion, the first end having a reduced width relative to a width of a length of the axial frame member between the first end and the crown of the outflow portion, and
• wherein the reduced width of the first end of each axial frame member is formed from a pair of cutouts disposed on opposing sides of the first end of each axial frame member and a length of each cutout is between 1% and 20% of the length of the axial frame member between the first end and the crown of the outflow portion, the pair of cutouts resulting in a curved portion of the crown of the inflow portion being exposed at an area of transition between the crown of the inflow portion and the axial frame member.