Prosthetic Heart Valve with Paravalvular Leak Mitigation Features

A prosthetic heart valve, comprising:

• a collapsible and expandable stent extending between an inflow end and an outflow end;
• a plurality of prosthetic leaflets mounted within the stent;
• an inner cuff disposed on an interior surface of the stent and positioned between the plurality of prosthetic leaflets and the stent;
• and
• an outer cuff disposed on an exterior surface of the stent, the outer cuff having an inflow edge positioned adjacent the inflow end of the stent and an outflow end positioned a spaced distance from the inflow edge of the outer cuff;
• wherein an inflow edge of the inner cuff is attached to the inflow edge of the outer cuff via one or more first sutures extending around a circumference of the stent at the inflow end of the stent;
• wherein the stent includes a first circumferential row of cells formed by struts, each cell of the first circumferential row of cells adjoining an adjacent cell of the first circumferential row of cells at a respective intersection point;
• wherein the outflow end of the outer cuff has a plurality of spaced apart locations around a circumference of the outer cuff, each of the plurality of spaced apart locations being coupled to the stent at a corresponding one of the intersection points, the outer cuff not being directly attached to the inner cuff between adjacent ones of the plurality of spaced apart locations such that a plurality of openings are formed between the inner cuff and the outer cuff between adjacent ones of the plurality of spaced apart locations;
• wherein the outer cuff forms a plurality of circumferential pleats, whereby in an implanted condition of the prosthetic heart valve, retrograde blood flow is configured to flow through the plurality of openings into a space between the inner cuff and the outer cuff to billow the plurality of circumferential pleats outwardly to enhance paravalvular sealing.