Endovacular cardiac venting catheter and method

• US 6,579,259 B2
• Filed: 06/25/1999
• Issued: 06/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Edwards Lifesciences LLC (Edwards Lifesciences Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Heartport, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Valley, Kirsten L., Krier, Jeffrey W., Stevens, John H., Evard, Philip C.
• Primary Examiner(s): MENDEZ, MANUEL A
• Application Number:
  US09/344,543
• Publication Number:
  US 20030040736A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,453 Days
• Field of Search: 604/6.06, 604/6.09, 604/6.11, 604/6.14, 604/43, 604/96.01, 604/99.01, 604/103.11, 604/105, 604/106, 604/151
• US Class Current: 604/96.01
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00232 having an irregular shape
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00261 arranged in a line
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2433 using balloon catheter
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2436 Deployment by retracting a sheath
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/3613 Reperfusion, e.g. of the coronary vessels, e.g. retroperfusion
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/3653 Interfaces between patient blood circulation and extra-corporal blood circuit
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/3659 Cannulae pertaining to extracorporeal circulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/0004 having two or more concentrically arranged tubes for forming a concentric catheter system
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/0078 for fluid inflow from the body into the catheter lumen
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/028 having a mainly rigid support structure
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/1047 having centering means, e.g. balloons having an appropriate shape
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/1052 for temporarily occluding a vessel for isolating a sector
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/1077 having a system for expelling the air out of the balloon before inflation and use
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2202/047 cardioplegic
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2210/125 Heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2210/127 Aorta
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0041 pre-formed, e.g. specially adapted to fit with the anatomy of body channels urethral catheters A61F2/04
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/007 Side holes, e.g. their profiles or arrangements; Provisions to keep side holes unblocked
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0125 Catheters carried by the bloodstream, e.g. with parachutes; Balloon catheters specially designed for this purpose
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0662 Guide tubes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/10 : Balloon catheters A61M25/0125 takes precedence; embolectomy A61B17/22032; retractors A61B17/02; inflatable balloons for placing stents or stent-grafts A61F2/958 ; stomach balloons for treatment of obesity A61F5/0003; oesophagal tubes A61J15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 29/02 : Dilators made of swellable material balloon catheters for angioplasty A61M25/104

Abstract

A venting catheter, system and method are provided for withdrawing blood and other fluids from a patient'"'"'s heart to facilitate decompressing the heart during cardioplegic arrest and cardiopulmonary bypass, without the need for a thoracotomy and without puncturing the aorta, pulmonary artery, or heart itself. The venting catheter is configured to be introduced into a peripheral vein and intraluminally advanced through the right side of the heart and into the pulmonary artery. The venting catheter includes a lumen configured to withdraw blood at a rate of at least about 50 ml/min at a pressure of no less than about −350 mmHg. A flow-directing means is provided to facilitate guiding the catheter into the pulmonary artery by being carried by blood flow through the heart. The cardiac venting system may include, in addition to the cardiac venting catheter, a cardiopulmonary bypass system to maintain circulation of oxygenated blood, and means for arresting the patient'"'"'s heart.

Claims

1. Apparatus for venting blood from a pulmonary artery leading away from a right ventricle of a patient'"'"'s heart, the system comprising:

a venting catheter comprising a flexible elongate shaft having a distal end, a proximal end, and an inner lumen extending from the proximal end to an inlet port at the distal end configured to withdraw blood from the pulmonary artery, the shaft having a length selected to allow the distal end to be positioned in the pulmonary artery with the proximal end extending transluminally to a peripheral vein and out of the patient through a puncture in the peripheral vein; and

flow-directed means coupled to the shaft and configured to be carried by blood flow through the heart into the pulmonary artery, the flow-directed means being a flow-directed catheter slidably positionable in the inner lumen of the shaft, the flow-directed catheter having an expandable member mounted to a distal end thereof which is extendable from the distal end of the shaft so as to be carried by blood flow through the heart into the pulmonary artery.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the flow-directed means comprises an expandable member attached to the shaft near the distal end thereof, the expandable member being configured to be carried by blood flow through the heart into the pulmonary artery.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the expandable member comprises a balloon having an interior, the shaft further having an inflation lumen extending from the proximal end to an opening near the distal end in communication with the interior of the balloon.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the expandable member comprises a balloon having an interior, the flow directed catheter having an inflation lumen extending from the proximal end to an opening near the distal end in communication with the interior of the lumen.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a pressure lumen in the shaft extending from the proximal end to a pressure port near the distal end.