Patent ID: 9078751
Filing Date: 2015-07-14
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A valve prosthesis comprising: a frame element configured for positioning at or near a native heart valve annulus, over native heart valve leaflets, shaped to prevent the frame element from shifting downstream of the native heart annulus; a skirt attached to said frame element, the skirt being configured to be positioned through the native heart valve, the skirt being movable between an open configuration permitting blood flow through the skirt and a closed configuration blocking blood flow through the skirt in cooperation with opening and closing of the native heart valve leaflets; and at least two skirt support extensions attached to the frame, all the skirt support extensions configured and circumferentially arranged to extend through the skirt at ends of commissures of the native heart valve between the native heart valve leaflets, where the native heart valve leaflets meet, while preserving the function of the opening and closing of the native heart valve leaflets, and prevent the skirt from collapsing back from a downstream direction to an upstream direction.