Patent ID: 8137398

Claim:
Assembly for delivering an aortic valve prosthesis through the vasculature of a subject, the assembly comprising: a delivery tube; and the valve prosthesis for attachment to a native aortic valve complex of a subject, the prosthesis configured to assume a compressed delivery state when placed partially within the delivery tube and while being passed through at least a portion of the vasculature of the subject that is remote from the aortic valve complex of the subject, and to assume an uncompressed implantation state when removed from the delivery tube, the prosthesis comprising: a support frame, which extends partially outside of the delivery tube when the prosthesis assumes the compressed delivery state and while being passed through at least a portion of the vasculature of the subject that is remote from the aortic valve complex of the subject; and a flexible prosthetic heart valve component, coupled to the support frame, wherein the support frame is shaped so as to define an upstream inlet with respect to blood flow during systole, at least a portion of which extends outside of the delivery tube, and wherein the upstream inlet comprises upstream-most portions that are tapered in an upstream direction toward a central longitudinal axis of the prosthesis when the prosthesis assumes the compressed delivery state.