Patent ID: 7429269

Claim:
A prosthetic device for use in the treatment of an aortic valve of a patient's heart, said prosthetic device having a compressed state for transarterial delivery and being expandable to an expanded state for implantation, said prosthetic device comprising: an expandable support constructed so as to be implantable in the expanded state of the prosthetic device in an aortic annulus of the aortic valve; an inner envelope having an upstream portion that lines the inner surface of the support, and a downstream portion which, when the prosthetic device is in the expanded state, is configured to extend into an aorta and defines a diverging conical section having a diameter that gradually increases from an upstream end of the diverging conical section to a downstream end of the section, which diverging conical section is configured to produce, during systole, a non-turbulent blood flow into the aorta with pressure recovery at the downstream end of the diverging conical section; and a prosthetic valve coupled to the downstream portion of the envelope at the downstream end of the diverging conical section.