Heart valve delivery system with valve catheter

A system for treating a native valve in a human heart, comprising:

• a self-expandable prosthetic valve including an expandable frame and a valvular structure;
• a tubular sleeve defining a passageway extending therethrough;
• a valve catheter configured for slidable advancement through the passageway of the tubular sleeve;
• a plurality of flexible extension arms secured to a distal end portion of the valve catheter, each flexible extension arm extending distally from the valve catheter, and each flexible extension arm comprising a distal end for engaging only a proximal end portion of the prosthetic valve, the flexible extension arms configured to stabilize the prosthetic valve during expansion at a treatment site, the distal end of each flexible extension arm comprising at least one opening extending transversely therethrough;
• a plurality of wires slidably disposed in the valve catheter, each wire comprising a proximal end and a distal end;
• at least one suture, a loop of which extends through the at least one opening in the flexible extension arm and around the distal end of a corresponding wire when securing the proximal end of the prosthetic valve to the flexible extension arms, and released from the distal end of the wire when releasing the proximal end of the prosthetic valve from the flexible extension arms;
• and
• an actuation mechanism disposed along a proximal end portion of the valve catheter, the actuation mechanism coupled to the proximal ends of the plurality of wires and configured to slide the wires proximally within the valve catheter, thereby detaching the suture from the prosthetic valve while the suture remains intact, thereby releasing the prosthetic valve from the flexible extension arms.