Implantable prosthetic valve

A method for deploying a valve device at the natural aortic valve position at the entrance to the left ventricle of a myocardium of a patient, comprising:

• radially collapsing an implantable valve device having a collapsible and expandable support stent formed of a shape memory material and a collapsible and expandable valve assembly formed of pericardial tissue, the support stent comprising a lower portion configured to expand to a first diameter and an upper portion configured to expand to a second diameter, the first diameter being smaller than the second diameter and wherein the valve assembly is sutured to the support stent at an inlet end and is sutured to the support stent along three commissural points for support three valve leaflets;
• advancing a guidewire through the patient's vasculature and around the aortic arch;
• advancing the collapsed valve device over the guidewire towards the natural aortic valve position via a catheterization technique;
• positioning the valve device such that the valve assembly is located within an annulus of a natural aortic valve;
• and
• radially expanding the support stent such that the lower portion engages leaflets of the natural aortic valve and the upper portion engages an inner wall of an ascending aorta;
• wherein, after implantation, the valve assembly allows blood to flow in a first direction and prevents blood from flowing in a second direction and wherein the lower and upper portions of the support stent are configured to resist migration of the valve assembly;
• wherein the support stent further comprises a central portion between the lower and upper portion, the central portion being shaped to provide a radial gap between the support stent and the inner wall of the ascending aorta at the openings of the coronary arteries.