Patent ID: 6966925

Claim:
A holder for a flexible leaflet prosthetic heart valve attachable to a surgical delivery handle, the heart valve having an inflow end and an outflow end and a flow axis therebetween, the valve including an annular sewing ring at the inflow end and a plurality of generally axially-extending commissure posts circumferentially-spaced around the outflow end that support occluding flexible leaflets of the valve, the holder comprising: a rigid valve abutment portion that contacts the annular sewing ring at the inflow end of the valve, a shaft member that is axially movable relative to the rigid valve abutment portion between a first position wherein a distal tip of the shaft member is located to the inflow side of the leaflets, and a second position wherein the distal tip is located to the outflow side of the leaflets; and a plurality of lengths of flexible material extending in a taut fashion across the outflow end of the valve to prevent suture looping, each length of flexible material having first segments extending radially inward from the commissure posts to the shaft member in its second position.