摘要 |
A catheter for use in combination with a balloon angioplasty catheter for delivering stents and other intraluminal prostheses comprises a tubular catheter body having a radially expansible portion. The stent is disposed over the radially expansible portion, and structure is provided for retaining the stent on the tubular body prior to deployment. The retaining structure may be active, i.e., requiring the user to retract retaining elements, such as axial members, sheaths, or the like. Alternatively, the retaining structure may be passive, wherein balloon expansion results in release of the prosthesis from the retaining structure. Particular methods for fluoroscopically positioning stents using such delivery catheters, for delivering two or more stents using such delivery catheters, and for overexpanding the ends of the stents for anchoring them in place, are also described. |