Prosthetic heart valve leaflet commissure assemblies and methods

A method of assembling a prosthetic heart valve comprising a plurality of leaflets, comprising:

• forming a plurality of commissures with the plurality of leaflets, each leaflet including two opposing commissure tabs arranged on opposite sides of a body of the leaflet, wherein each commissure is formed by:
• folding each of a first commissure tab of a first leaflet and a second commissure tab of an adjacent, second leaflet into two overlapping layers that overlap in a lateral direction, the lateral direction arranged perpendicular to an axial direction and a radial direction that are relative to a central longitudinal axis of an annular frame of the prosthetic heart valve;
• arranging the folded first commissure tab against a first side of a protruding portion of an attachment member and arranging the folded second commissure tab against an opposite, second side of the protruding portion, the protruding portion extending in the radial direction, away from a base portion of the attachment member;
• securing each of the first commissure tab and the second commissure tab to the attachment member;
• and
• for each commissure, attaching the attachment member to a respective commissure support portion of the annular frame, either directly or via a commissure support element configured to be coupled to the commissure support portion, the base portion of the attachment member arranged between, in the radial direction, the folded first and second commissure tabs and the commissure support portion or the commissure support element.

A prosthetic heart valve, comprising:

• an annular frame comprising a plurality of commissure support portions, each commissure support portion including an inner surface facing a central longitudinal axis of the frame and an oppositely arranged, outer surface;
• and
• a plurality of leaflets situated within the frame, each leaflet comprising a body and two opposing commissure tabs arranged on opposite sides of the body, each commissure tab being paired with an adjacent commissure tab of an adjacent leaflet to form a commissure;
• wherein each commissure of the prosthetic heart valve comprises:
• an attachment member attached directly to a corresponding commissure support portion of the plurality of commissure support portions, the attachment member including a base portion extending across the inner surface of the commissure support portion and a protruding portion that extends radially outward from a central region of the base portion and extends radially inward toward the central longitudinal axis;
• a first commissure tab of a first leaflet of the plurality of leaflets folded into two overlapping layers that overlap in a lateral direction, the lateral direction arranged perpendicular to an axial direction and a radial direction that are relative to the central longitudinal axis, the two overlapping layers arranged adjacent to a first side of the protruding portion of the attachment member and secured directly to the attachment member;
• and
• a second commissure tab of a second leaflet of the plurality of leaflets folded into two overlapping layers that overlap in the lateral direction, the two overlapping layers arranged adjacent to an opposite, second side of the protruding portion of the attachment member and secured directly to the attachment member.