Method of, and stylet apparatus for, installing a retrograde coronary cannula

摘要

A coronary cannula and installation stylet set, the stylet having a shaft extending through the cannula of the coronary cannula to facilitate the installation of the cannula. The shaft has a stiff but resilient proximal portion and a deformable distal portion, shorter than the proximal portion, which can be deformed to hold the distal tip of the coronary cannula in a desired configuration to facilitate the insertion of the cannula into the coronary sinus. According to the method of this invention, the coronary cannula and installation stylet are provided, the distal tip of the coronary cannula is shaped by deforming the deformable distal portion of the stylet therein to facilitate its insertion into the coronary sinus. The tip of the coronary cannula is manipulated into the coronary sinus, and the stylet is removed from the coronary cannula once the coronary canula is in place in the coronary sinus.