Importance

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Abstract

A vascular sheath apparatus is used for placement of a medical device through a perforation in a side wall of a patient's blood vessel. An elongated cylindrical sheath has a distal end portion constructed to be received through the blood vessel. An annular expandable sealing device is disposed about the sheath and expandable radially outward beyond the outer surface of the sheath. The sealing device preferably lies generally in a plane oriented at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the sheath. A clamp is slidably disposed on the sheath proximally of the sealing device and can slide toward the sealing device so as to sandwich the vessel wall and overlying tissue between the clamp and the expanded sealing device. The sealing device may be either an inflatable balloon or an accordion fold. Other features include the particular geometry of the clamp which makes it especially suited for use in clamping a sheath in place in the femoral artery.

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First Claim