METHOD AND KIT FOR TRANSVENOUSLY ACCESSING THE PERICARDIAL SPACE VIA THE RIGHT ATRIUM

摘要

A method and kit for accessing the pericardial space take advantage of the fact that the right auricle is a thin-walled, low-pressure structure which can be readily penetrated without damaging the pericardium or the epicardium. The kit includes an infusion guid wire and a leading guide wire having a diameter sufficiently small to be passed through a lumen of the infusion guide wire. The leading guide wire has a sufficient length to pass through and protrude from a distal end of the infusion guide wire. The leading guide wire also has a distal end capable of penetrating a wall of the right atrium of the subject's heart. The infusion guide wire and the leading guide wire both have sufficient flexibility to permit the infusion guide wire and the leading guide wire to be simultaneously passed through the guide catheter into the right atrium of the subject's heart via a transvenous route.