Patent ID: 8728154

Claim:
A prosthetic aortic valve, comprising: an annular stent frame including (1) an annulus inflow portion configured for disposition, in use, adjacent a patient's native aortic valve annulus, the annulus inflow portion having an inlet end and an outlet end and including a plurality of sections spaced from one another in the annular direction, the annulus inflow portion being devoid of structure between adjacent ones of the sections so as to define at least one gap in the annular direction around the annulus inflow portion between one of the sections of the annulus inflow portion and another of the sections of the annulus inflow portion, the at least one gap extending from the inlet end to the outlet end, (2) an aortic outflow portion configured for disposition, in use, in the patient's native aorta downstream from at least a portion of the patient's valsalva sinus, and (3) a plurality of connecting struts connecting the annulus inflow portion to the aortic outflow portion, the annulus inflow portion defining a plurality of commissure tips that are spaced from one another in the annular direction around the annulus inflow portion, the commissure tips being the features of the annulus inflow portion that are closest to the aortic outflow portion, each of the connecting struts being connected to the annulus inflow portion only at points that are farther from the aortic outflow portion than the commissure tips, each commissure tip having an associated pair of the connecting struts disposed on opposite sides of the commissure tip in the annular direction, and each of the connecting struts, in use, bulging radially outwardly between the annulus inflow portion and the aortic outflow portion; and a plurality of valve leaflets supported by the annulus inflow portion.