Patent ID: 8029564

Claim:
A prosthetic heart valve and a holder comprising: a prosthetic heart valve including a stent and a plurality of stent posts extending from the stent, each of the stent posts defining a free end, and leaflets operatively associated with structure of the stent and stent posts; a holder including a holder body that is releasably coupled to the prosthetic heart valve by a first line so as to permit manipulation of the prosthetic heart valve by way of the holder; and a deflection device including a tensioning component that is also releasably coupled to the prosthetic heart valve, the tensioning component also being transitional relative to the prosthetic heart valve and with respect to a second line for deflecting at least one free end of a stent post by engagement of the tensioning component with the second line, wherein the coupling of the holder body permits the holder to be uncoupled from and moved away from the prosthetic heart valve without uncoupling the tensioning component of the deflection device from the prosthetic heart valve.