Abstract A catheter for maintaining the patency of a blood vessel damaged during the course of angiography or angioplasty procedures comprising a toroidal coil whose adjacent turns are tightly wound and in contact with one another over a majority of the length thereof but which are separated from one another over a predetermined longitudinal dimension near the distal end thereof. The tightly wound touching coils may be covered with a Teflon coating and when the catheter must be used to maintain patency in a coronary artery, it is advanced along the guide wire of an angiography or angioplasty catheter until the open turn portion of the bail-out catheter bridges the site of the damaged vessel. After the angiographic or angioplasty catheter and its guide wire are removed, the bail-out catheter remains in position so that blood can flow through the open turns of that catheter and beyond until such time as surgical repair can be made.
A method of restoring and maintaining a blood vessel in a patent condition following damage to the endothelial lining thereof during the course of a catheterization procedure until surgical intervention can be accomplished, comprising the steps of: (a) removing the angiography/angioplasty catheter from said blood vessel, leaving a guide wire in place; (b) fitting the open distal end of an elongated wire helix over said guide wire, said wire helix having closely spaced, touching turns over a majority of its length and an integrally formed segment of spaced-apart turns proximate a distal end thereof; and (c) advancing said elongated wire helix over said guide wire until said integrally formed segment of spaced-part turns is juxtaposed with the site of damage to said endothelial lining to support said lining and preventing same from occluding said blood vessel.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
136 words
A method of restoring and maintaining a blood vessel in a patent condition following damage to the endothelial lining thereof during the course of a catheterization procedure until surgical intervention can be accomplished, comprising the steps of: (a) removing the angiography/angioplasty catheter from said blood vessel, leaving a guide wire in place; (b) fitting the open distal end of an elongated wire helix over said guide wire, said wire helix having closely spaced, touching turns over a majority of its length and an integrally formed segment of spaced-apart turns proximate a distal end thereof; and (c) advancing said elongated wire helix over said guide wire until said integrally formed segment of spaced-part turns is juxtaposed with the site of damage to said endothelial lining to support said lining and preventing same from occluding said blood vessel.