Heart Valve Assembly

A method of securing a heart valve assembly at the native annulus of a human heart, comprising the steps of:

• providing a heart valve assembly comprising:
• a wire frame comprising an anchor section, a generally cylindrical valve support section, and a neck section that transitions between the anchor section and the valve support section, the wire frame further including a plurality of supports extending radially outwardly in an annular manner about an upper end of the valve support section, and the anchor section having an annular flange that extends radially therefrom, wherein an annular space is defined between the annular flange and the annular supports;
• and
• a leaflet assembly having a plurality of leaflets that are stitched to the valve support section and which are positioned on an inflow side of the neck section;
• delivering the heart valve assembly to the location of a native annulus;
• and
• deploying the heart valve assembly at the location of the native annulus with the native annulus retained inside the annular space.