Patent ID: 8839957

Claim:
A packaged prosthetic heart valve assembly, comprising: a jar having an open end and a closed bottom, and a plurality of inwardly-directed rails circumferentially distributed around the jar interior; a prosthetic heart valve having an inflow end and an outflow end; a valve holder attached to one end of the valve; and a generally tubular packaging sleeve having a tubular wall sized to fit closely within the jar and having structure to which the valve holder removably couples so that the heart valve is restrained from gross movement within the jar, the sleeve further including a plurality of radially-outwardly projecting protrusions in the tubular wall circumferentially distributed around a sleeve periphery, there being at least two differently configured and axially-spaced protrusions at each circumferential location, wherein an exterior diameter defined by the protrusions is larger than an inner diameter defined by the rails so as to create an anti-rotation interference between the sleeve and the jar to limit rotation of the sleeve while in the jar, the sleeve further including vents in the tubular wall between each circumferential location at which there are protrusions.