摘要 |
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.
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