Minimally-invasive heart valves and methods of use

A method of minimally-invasive heart valve replacement surgery on a patient, comprising:

• providing an expandable heart valve stent adapted to be delivered in a collapsed state to an implantation site and expanded, the stent defining a plurality of upstanding commissures and a plurality of arcuate cusps, one cusp each between adjacent commissures, wherein a plurality of prosthetic leaflets are attached to the stent along the cusps and commissures in a manner that provides continuous support for each leaflet along the stern cusps, wherein the stent and leaflets are configured to be radially compressed, wherein the stent comprises a wireform, and wherein the prosthetic leaflets each have a cusp edge attached along a wireform cusp, and the prosthetic leaflets each have a pair of commissure portions terminating in outwardly extending tabs that each attach to a wireform commissure, wherein tabs from adjacent leaflets are attached together at each of the wireform commissures;
• storing the stent in an expanded configuration;
• compressing the stent just prior to implantation;
• delivering the compressed stent through a tube to a heart valve annulus;
• and
• expanding the stent so that the leaflets form a one-way valve at the heart valve annulus.

A method of minimally-invasive heart valve replacement surgery on a patient, comprising:

• providing an annular tissue-engaging base, the base being expandable from a collapsed state;
• providing an expandable heart valve stent adapted to be delivered in a collapsed state to an implantation site and expanded, the stent defining a plurality of upstanding commissures and a plurality of arcuate cusps, one cusp each between adjacent commissures, wherein a plurality of prosthetic leaflets are attached to the stent along the cusps and commissures in a manner that provides continuous support for each leaflet along the stent cusps, wherein the stent and leaflets are configured to be radially compressed;
• storing the stent in an expanded configuration;
• compressing the stent just prior to implantation;
• connecting the stent to the base to form a heart valve;
• delivering the heart valve with the connected base in its collapsed state and stent in its compressed size through a tube to a heart valve annulus;
• and
• expanding the base into its expanded state in contact with the heart valve annulus and the stent so that the leaflets form a one-way valve.