Stentless aortic valve replacement with high radial strength

Abstract

Disclosed is a stentless transluminally implantable heart valve, having a formed in place support. The formed in place support exhibits superior crush resistance when compared to conventional balloon expandable or self expandable stent based valves.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A method of treating a patient, comprising the steps of:
 identifying a patient with a minimum cross-minimum flow area through an aortic valve of no greater than 0.75 square cm;   enlarging the minimum cross-minimum flow area through the valve; and   deploying a prosthetic valve which provides a minimum cross-sectional flow area of at least about 1.75 square cm;   wherein the prosthetic valve exhibits sufficient crush resistance that it will deform radially no more than about 0.3 inches under a load imposed by the aortic valve.   
     
     
         12 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the wherein the prosthetic valve exhibits sufficient crush resistance that it will deform radially no more than about 0.3 inches under a load of about 2 pounds. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the wherein the prosthetic valve exhibits sufficient crush resistance that it will deform radially no more than about 0.3 inches under a load of about 4 pounds.