Methods and devices for bypassing an obstructed target vessel by placing the vessel in communication with a heart chamber containing blood

摘要

Methods and devices for forming an anastomosis during a bypass procedure utilize a graft vessel secured to a vessel coupling adapted to be fixed to a target vessel without using suture. The graft vessel is placed in fluid communication with a heart chamber containing blood. The vessel coupling may be collapsed for introduction into the target vessel and then expanded to fix the coupling thereto. The vessel coupling may be a stent with the graft vessel secured thereto to form a stent-graft assembly. The anastomosis is carried out to place the graft and target vessels in fluid communication while preserving native proximal flow through the target vessel, which may be a coronary artery. As a result, blood flowing from the aorta and past an obstruction in the coronary artery is not blocked by formation of the anastomosis; rather, such proximal blood flow is free to move past the vessel coupling and the anastomosis.