An illustrative endoluminal implant having an elongated tubular member. The elongated tubular member having a stent and a retrieval suture interwoven with the stent. The retrieval suture including a first suture loop extending about a circumference of the stent and adjacent to a suture retrieval loop and a second suture loop extending about a circumference of the stent and longitudinally spaced from the first suture loop. The first and second suture loops coupled via one or more interconnecting segments. At least one of the first or second suture loops has an arc length of less than 270° of the circumference of the stent.

A biodegradable in vivo supporting device is disclosed. In one embodiment, a coated stent device includes a biodegradable metal alloy scaffold made from a magnesium alloy, iron alloy, zinc alloy, or combination thereof, and the metal scaffold comprises a plurality of metal struts. The metal struts are at least partially covered with a biodegradable polymer coating. A method for making and a method for using a biodegradable in vivo supporting device are also disclosed.

A biodegradable in vivo supporting device is disclosed. In one embodiment, a coated stent device includes a biodegradable metal alloy scaffold made from a magnesium alloy, iron alloy, zinc alloy, or combination thereof, and the metal scaffold comprises a plurality of metal struts. The metal struts are at least partially covered with a biodegradable polymer coating. A method for making and a method for using a biodegradable in vivo supporting device are also disclosed.

A device for placement in the aortic arch of a patient is provided. The device includes a distal portion for being engageably received in an aortic arch of a patient beyond the left subclavian artery and a stent portion fluidly engaged with the distal portion, the stent portion being permeable and configured to span a portion of the aortic arches to which the brachiocephalic trunk, left common carotid artery, and left subclavian artery attach to the aortic arch. A diameter of the stent portion may be modified by translation of the proximal portion to thereby alter a length of the stent portion thus causing modification of the diameter of the stent portion to fit anatomical features of differing dimensions.

Methods of delivering a prosthetic aortic heart valve are disclosed. The disclosed methods include loading a prosthetic aortic valve in a collapsed configuration into a delivery sheath so that a selected point on the prosthetic valve is rotationally aligned relative to a long axis of the delivery sheath with a selected radiopaque marker on the delivery sheath, while under fluoroscopic imaging, rotating the delivery sheath about its long axis to align a selected radiopaque marker on the delivery sheath with the selected point on the native aortic valve in a fluoroscopic imaging plane, thereby establishing a desired orientation of the prosthetic aortic valve with respect to the native aortic valve in which the prosthetic valve commissures are rotationally aligned with commissures of the native aortic valve, further advancing the delivery sheath along its long axis until the prosthetic aortic valve is disposed inside the native aortic valve, and deploying the prosthetic aortic valve into an implanted state inside the native aortic valve with the prosthetic aortic valve aligned in the desired orientation with respect to the native aortic valve.

Described herein are flexible implantable occluding devices that can, for example, navigate the tortuous vessels of the neurovasculature. The occluding devices can also conform to the shape of the tortuous vessels of the vasculature. In some embodiments, the occluding devices can direct blood flow within a vessel away from an aneurysm or limit blood flow to the aneurysm. Some embodiments describe methods and apparatus for adjusting, along a length of the device, the porosity of the occluding device. In some embodiments, the occluding devices allows adequate blood flow to be provided to adjacent structures such that those structures, whether they are branch vessels or oxygen-demanding tissues, are not deprived of the necessary blood flow.

Described herein are flexible implantable occluding devices that can, for example, navigate the tortuous vessels of the neurovasculature. The occluding devices can also conform to the shape of the tortuous vessels of the vasculature. In some embodiments, the occluding devices can direct blood flow within a vessel away from an aneurysm or limit blood flow to the aneurysm. Some embodiments describe methods and apparatus for adjusting, along a length of the device, the porosity of the occluding device. In some embodiments, the occluding devices allows adequate blood flow to be provided to adjacent structures such that those structures, whether they are branch vessels or oxygen-demanding tissues, are not deprived of the necessary blood flow.

A plaque tack can be used for holding plaque against blood vessel walls such as in treating atherosclerotic occlusive disease. The plaque tack can be formed as a thin, annular band for holding loose plaque under a spring or other expansion force against a blood vessel wall. Focal elevating elements and/or other features, such as anchors, can be used to exert a holding force on a plaque position while minimizing the amount of material surface area in contact with the plaque or blood vessel wall and reducing the potential of friction with the endoluminal surface. This approach offers clinicians the ability to perform a minimally invasive post-angioplasty treatment and produce a stent-like result without using a stent.

Expandable elements having drug-delivery features and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a drug-eluting stent includes a radially expandable cylindrical frame having a plurality of struts. The frame is transformable between a low-profile delivery state and an expanded deployed state. A plurality of drug-delivery features are carried by one of the struts and configured to deliver a drug to a treatment site within the patient or piercing through the tissue wall to break the constricting of the vessel wall inwardly. When the frame is in the expanded state within a body lumen of the patient, the drug-delivery features extend radially outwardly away from the strut and are configured to engage and, in some arrangements, pass through a wall of the body lumen.

In some aspects, a surgical procedure for the removal of a prostate gland is provided. The procedure comprises: (a) positioning an implant material within the urethra, (b) removing the prostate, thereby cresting a urethral stump and a bladder neck, wherein the implant material occupies the urethral stump, the bladder neck, or both, and (c) securing the bladder neck to the urethral stump in an anastomosis procedure to establish a path of urine flow from the bladder to an external urethral opening (e.g., the meatus). Subsequently, the implant material is removed from the urethra, for example, by natural urine voiding or by flowing a removal fluid through and/or around the implant material in the urethra. In other aspects, a medical kit is provided.