Patent ID: 7101396

Claim:
A valve assembly comprising: a replacement valve having a scalloped inflow annulus having a scalloped edge, an outflow annulus, and a plurality of leaflets between said scalloped inflow annulus and said outflow annulus; and an expandable and collapsible stent anchoring structure composed of a shape memory metal alloy material having an undulating inflow rim having a curvature that coextends with the scalloped edge of the inflow annulus and an outflow rim connected by support posts and adopted to support the replacement valve and the outflow rim being longitudinally displaced from the replacement valve leaflets, the anchoring structure inflow rim having an undulating configuration to support the scalloped inflow annulus of the replacement valve; said anchoring structure being dimensioned to extend longitudinally from an attachment location near the inflow annulus of a native valve sinus to an attachment location near the outflow annulus of a native valve sinus.