Method of coronary plaque removal with bypass and perfusion
First Claim
1. A method for removing plaque from a blood vessel adjacent to a patient'"'"'s heart, said method comprising:
- (a) bypassing said heart by drawing blood from a right atrium of said heart, passing blood so drawn through an extracorporeal bypass circuit at a controlled rate, and returning blood from said extracorporeal bypass circuit to a first femoral artery of said patient;
(b) liberating plaque deposited in said blood vessel with a plaque debulking catheter extending coaxially through a guide catheter extending into said heart; and
(c) perfusing said heart in a retrograde direction by passing perfusate through said heart to said blood vessel and drawing said perfusate from said blood vessel into said guide catheter, thereby drawing liberated plaque into said guide catheter with said perfusate.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Catheter-based coronary surgery is performed in a system which includes a combination of bypass of the heart, perfusion of the heart and the use of a therapeutic catheter to loosen plaque deposited in a coronary artery. Bypass is done with a bypass circuit circulating blood from the right atrium through an extracorporeal bypass unit and back through a femoral artery. Perfusion is done by passing a perfusate into the heart for retrograde flow, then drawing the perfusate out of the heart through a catheter which also serves as a guide for the therapeutic catheter. The open distal end of the guide is placed sufficiently close to the functional element at the end of the therapeutic catheter that plaque which has been loosened by the action of the therapeutic catheter is carried into the guide along with the perfusate, and hence out of the patient'"'"'s body.
220 Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A method for removing plaque from a blood vessel adjacent to a patient'"'"'s heart, said method comprising:
-
(a) bypassing said heart by drawing blood from a right atrium of said heart, passing blood so drawn through an extracorporeal bypass circuit at a controlled rate, and returning blood from said extracorporeal bypass circuit to a first femoral artery of said patient; (b) liberating plaque deposited in said blood vessel with a plaque debulking catheter extending coaxially through a guide catheter extending into said heart; and (c) perfusing said heart in a retrograde direction by passing perfusate through said heart to said blood vessel and drawing said perfusate from said blood vessel into said guide catheter, thereby drawing liberated plaque into said guide catheter with said perfusate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
Specification