Patent attributes
Prosthetic heart valves may be delivered to a targeted native heart valve site via one or more delivery catheters. In some embodiments, the prosthetic heart valves are implanted using catheter-based deployment systems that include multiple control wires. In particular implementations, the deployment systems can include a retrieval catheter that can be used to recapture the prosthetic heart valve back into a delivery sheath after being expressed from the delivery sheath. The prosthetic heart valves occupy a small delivery profile, thereby facilitating a smaller delivery catheter system for advancement to the heart. Some delivery catheter systems can include a curved control catheter and/or a deflectable catheter to facilitate deployment of the prosthetic heart valve to a native tricuspid valve site via a superior vena cava or inferior vena cava.
