Endovascular system for the treatment of stenoses of the carotid and catheter for this system

A method of using a catheter comprising a long and flexible, hollow, tubular body having an insertion end and a connection end intended to remain outside the body, and at the insertion end, at least two elements which are expandable/contractible by means of external operation and which are located on said tubular body at a fixed distance from each other such as to be able to operate one upstream and the other downstream of a given section of a vessel, said expandable/contractible elements being adapted and/or being able to be adapted, with regard to their diameters in the expanded condition, to the diameters of the vessels inside which they are intended to be positioned, so as to block temporarily the circulation inside said vessel section, wherein the two elements located at the insertion end are inflatable/deflatable by means of supplying and discharge ducts which are provided inside the thickness of the catheter wall, wherein the tubular body includes a main body having a first, larger diameter, provided on the outside with a first one of said elements which is inflatable/deflatable by means of one of the ducts provided in the thickness of the wall, wherein at least one other of the ducts inside the thickness of the wall extends, after a certain length, into an extension portion of the tubular body having a second, smaller diameter and provided on the outside with a second one of said elements, and further comprising a central duct for conveying treatment means necessary for operating in the vessel section affected by stenosis, the method comprising the following steps:

• insertion of the catheter inside the carotid artery via the femoral artery;
• positioning of the catheter so that the end of the smaller-diameter extension is arranged, with respect to the direction of the blood flow, in the external carotid and the larger-diameter end is arranged inside the common carotid;
• inflation of the two expandable/contractible elements via the two respective ducts provided in the thickness of the catheter wall;
• operation on the stenosis of the internal carotid via insertion of the appropriate treatment instruments though the central duct;
• aspiration through the central duct of possible residues deriving from catheter expansion;
• deflation of the two expandable/contractible elements via the two respective ducts provided in the thickness of the catheter wall;
• final monitoring and extraction of the catheter and the guide wire.

Catheter in particular for endovascular applications, comprising a long and flexible, hollow, tubular body having an insertion end and a connection end intended to remain outside the body, and at the insertion end at least two elements which are expandable/contractible by means of external operation and which are located at a distance from each other such as to be able to operate one upstream and the other downstream of a given section of a vessel, said expandable/contractible elements being adapted and/or being able to be adapted, with regard to their diameters in the expanded condition, to the diameters of the vessels inside which they are intended to be positioned, so as to block temporarily the circulation inside said vessel section, wherein the two elements located at the insertion end are inflatable/deflatable by means of supplying and discharge ducts which are provided inside the thickness of the catheter wall,

• wherein the tubular body includes a main body having a first, larger diameter, provided on the outside with a first one of said elements which is inflatable/deflatable by means of one of the ducts provided in the thickness of the wall, and an extension portion having a second, smaller diameter and provided on the outside with a second elements, and
• further comprising at least one additional duct for a guide wire in the thickness of the wall, which emerges on the end side of the most distal end of the smaller-diameter extension, said duct for the guide wire extends only in the distal portion of the catheter and has an opening located between the inflatable/deflatable elements.