Prosthetic heart valve with expandable skirt to promote washout

A prosthetic heart valve comprising:

• a valve frame comprising an outflow end and an inflow end, wherein the valve frame is radially expandable from a radially compressed state to a radially expanded state, wherein the valve frame comprises a plurality of struts arranged to form a plurality of cells defining openings in the valve frame;
• a plurality of prosthetic leaflets disposed within and coupled to the valve frame;
• and
• a skirt assembly mounted to an outer surface of the valve frame, wherein the skirt assembly comprises a sealing layer having an inflow edge and an outflow edge, wherein the skirt assembly further comprises a plurality of expanding members coupled to the sealing layer, wherein the expanding members are formed of a shape-memory material, and wherein a portion of the sealing layer is configured to be displaced radially outward from the valve frame by the expanding members when the valve frame is expanded to the radially expanded state to enlarge a neosinus defined between the prosthetic leaflets and the sealing layer;
• wherein when the prosthetic heart valve is implanted in a native heart valve and the valve frame is expanded to the radially expanded state, retrograde blood inside the valve frame can flow outwardly through cells of the valve frame and into a region of the neosinus that is between the valve frame and the sealing layer.

A prosthetic heart valve assembly comprising:

• a docking component that is radially expandable from a radially compressed state to a radially expanded state, the docking component comprising an annular docking frame comprising an inflow end, an outflow end, and an intermediate portion extending axially between the inflow end and the outflow end, wherein a diameter of the intermediate portion is greater than a diameter of the inflow end and a diameter of the outflow end in the radially expanded state, the docking component further comprising an annular sealing layer covering a surface of the docking frame, and wherein the docking frame comprises a plurality of expanding regions that are expandable to displace the sealing layer radially outward;
• and
• a prosthetic heart valve component, separate from the docking component, that is radially expandable from a radially compressed state to a radially expanded state, the prosthetic heart valve component comprising an annular valve frame and a plurality of leaflets disposed within and coupled to the valve frame, wherein the valve frame comprises a plurality of struts arranged to form a plurality of cells defining openings in the valve frame;
• wherein the docking component is configured to be implanted in a native heart valve in its radially expanded state and the prosthetic heart valve component is configured to be implanted in the docking component in a radially expanded state such that a neosinus is defined between the leaflets and the sealing layer that allows retrograde blood inside the valve frame to flow outwardly through cells of the valve frame and into space between the valve frame and the sealing layer.

A method of implanting a prosthetic heart valve and a docking component with a delivery system, comprising:

• positioning the docking component at a docking component position on the delivery system, the docking component having an expandable docking component frame and a skirt coupled to an outside of the docking component frame;
• positioning the prosthetic heart valve at a prosthetic heart valve position;
• advancing the delivery system to an implantation site to align the docking component with a native valve annulus;
• radially expanding the docking component frame;
• further radially expanding the skirt coupled to the docking component frame against native leaflets via expandable regions of the docking component frame that displace the skirt radially outward;
• moving the delivery system to align the prosthetic heart valve with the docking component;
• and
• radially expanding the prosthetic heart valve into contact with the docking component, wherein an enlarged neosinus is defined between an outside of the prosthetic valve and an inside of the skirt of the docking component, the enlarged neosinus promoting increased washout of blood.