Devices and methods are provided for temporarily inducing cardioplegic arrest
in the heart of a patient and for establishing cardiopulmonary bypass in order
to facilitate surgical procedures on the heart and its related blood vessels. Specifically,
a catheter based system is provided for isolating the heart and coronary blood
vessels of a patient from the remainder of the arterial system and for infusing
a cardioplegic agent into the patient's coronary arteries to induce cardioplegic
arrest in the heart. The system includes an endoaortic partitioning catheter having
an expandable balloon at its distal end which is expanded within the ascending
aorta to occlude the aortic lumen between the coronary ostia and the brachiocephalic
artery. Means for centering the catheter tip within the ascending aorta include
specially curved shaft configurations, eccentric or shaped occlusion balloons and
a steerable catheter tip, which may be used separately or in combination. The shaft
of the catheter may have a coaxial or multilumen construction. The catheter may
further include piezoelectric pressure transducers at the distal tip of the catheter
and within the occlusion balloon. Means to facilitate nonfluoroscopic placement
of the catheter include fiberoptic transillumination of the aorta and a secondary
balloon at the distal tip of the catheter for atraumatically contacting the aortic
valve. The system further includes a dual purpose arterial bypass cannula and introducer
sheath for introducing the catheter into a peripheral artery of the patient.
