An angioplasty balloon including a non-deployable stent to prevent or reduce the potential for slippage of the inflated balloon with respect to the vessel wall being treated. The balloon includes a non-deployable stent that is adapted to be secured to the balloon or angioplasty balloon catheter. The stent has a proximal end, a distal end, and at least three radially-spaced struts, each, each strut connecting the proximal end to the distal end and having one or more bends that allow expansion of the strut to accommodate the inflation of the balloon. The stem is made or a material so that the stent collapses upon deflation of the balloon.

Some embodiments are directed to methods for serially expanding an artificial heart valve within a pediatric patient. For example, the artificial heart valve can be implanted into the pediatric patient during a first procedure, and then expanded during a second procedure to accommodate for the pediatric patient's growth. Some embodiments include introducing an expander into the implanted valve when the frame is expanded to a first working diameter, and then actuating the expander to expand the frame to a second working diameter greater than the first working diameter, to accommodate for the pediatric patient's growth.

A percutaneous heart valve prosthesis including a collapsible valve body frame has a first end and a second end. The valve body frame is formed by a plurality of sub-frame members, each sub-frame member having a general form of a diamond with acute-angled vertices and oblique-angled vertices, wherein adjacent sub-frame members are joined at the oblique-angled vertices. A flexible skirt made from pericardial material extends around a periphery of the valve body frame. A one-way valve including a plurality of flexible valve leaflets is positioned within the valve body frame. The first end of the valve body frame is sized to pass through a valve orifice associated with a heart valve to be replaced and the second end of the valve body frame is sized so as not to pass through a valve orifice.

A system or device for isolating pulmonary pressure from left atrial pressure and/or improving cardiac output. The device may be an implantable cardiac device comprising an intravascular shield. The system may comprise an intravascular shield and a trans-septal delivery sheath. The intravascular shield can be sized and configured to be positioned in a pulmonary vein or a left atrium to restrict fluid flow from the left atrium through one or more pulmonary veins to the lungs while allowing fluid flow from the lungs through the one or more pulmonary veins to the left atrium. The trans-septal delivery sheath can be configured to contain the intravascular shield in a collapsed configuration and deliver the intravascular shield to the left atrium.

The present invention provides apparatus for endovascularly replacing a patient's heart valve. The apparatus includes a replacement valve and an expandable anchor configured for endovascular delivery to a vicinity of the patient's heart valve. In some embodiments, the replacement valve is adapted to wrap about the anchor, for example, by everting during endovascular deployment. In some embodiments, the replacement valve is not connected to expandable portions of the anchor. In some embodiments, the anchor is configured for active foreshortening during endovascular deployment. In some embodiments, the anchor includes expandable lip and skirt regions for engaging the patient's heart valve during deployment. In some embodiments, the anchor comprises a braid fabricated from a single strand of wire. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a lock configured to maintain anchor expansion.

A delivery system for delivering a heart valve prosthesis includes a heart valve prosthesis and a delivery catheter. The heart valve prosthesis includes an anchoring member and an inner valve support, and further includes a radially collapsed configuration and a radially expanded configuration. The delivery catheter includes a handle, an outer shaft, an intermediate shaft, an inner shaft, and a distal tip component. The delivery catheter further includes a delivery configuration. In the delivery configuration, the outer shaft of the delivery catheter is configured to retain a first portion of the anchoring member, the intermediate shaft is configured to retain a first portion of the inner valve support, and the distal tip component is configured to retain a second end of the anchoring member and a second end of the inner valve support each in a radially compressed state.

A replacement heart valve system and a method of implanting a replacement heart valve in a patient. The replacement heart valve system includes a radially self-expandable tubular body and a valve including a plurality of leaflets coupled to the tubular body. The tubular body includes interconnected struts defining circumferential rows of cells, and has an outflow end and an inflow end that flares radially outward so as to have a larger outer diameter than that of the outflow end. A first row of proximal-most cells formed at the inflow end includes circumferentially adjacent cells that are disconnected from each other so as to be spaced from each other in the circumferential direction. A method of implanting the replacement heart valve includes delivering from a delivery catheter the tubular body, and expanding the tubular body such that the proximal-most cells are disposed against the native heart valve annulus.

A medical implant (20) includes first and second ring members (22, 24), each including a resilient framework (26) having a generally cylindrical form. A tubular sleeve (28) is fixed to the first and second ring members so as to hold the ring members in mutual longitudinal alignment, thereby defining a lumen (32) passing through the ring members. A constricting element (30) is fit around the sleeve at a location intermediate the first and second ring members so as to reduce a diameter of the lumen at the location.

A drain-compatible soft tissue expander can incorporate a drainage structure that allows fluid to be removed from the body of a living subject. The soft tissue expander can include an expandable shell and a drainage structure that can, for example, assist in mitigating or eliminating seromas. The drainage structure can be coupled to the shell at a plurality of locations and be removable therefrom without damaging the expandable shell.