Claims
- 1. A method for treating a host suffering from a vascular disease, said method comprising:flushing a vascular lesion with an acidic dissolution fluid having a pH that does not exceed about 3 to treat said host.
- 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said method further comprises applying energy to said calcified lesion in a manner sufficient to breakup said lesion into particles.
- 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said method further comprises rendering a local environment of said vascular lesion substantially bloodless.
- 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said acidic dissolution fluid comprises an organic or inorganic acid.
- 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein said acidic dissolution fluid is a hydrochloric acid solution.
- 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein said acidic dissolution fluid is hypertonic.
- 7. A system for flushing a vascular tissue site with a dissolution fluid, said system comprising:(a) a catheter comprising an acidic dissolution fluid introduction lumen capable of delivering fluid to said vascular tissue site and a fluid removal lumen capable of removing fluid and lesion debris from said vascular tissue site, wherein said catheter is in fluid communication with an acidic dissolution fluid source comprising an acidic dissolution fluid having a pH that does not exceed about 3; (b) a first pumping means operatively linked to said fluid introduction lumen in a manner sufficient such that said first pumping means forces fluid out of the distal end of said fluid introduction lumen; and (c) a second pumping means operatively linked to said fluid removal lumen in a manner sufficient such that said second pumping means sucks fluid into the distal end of said fluid removal lumen.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/195,291,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,071 filed Nov. 18, 1998; which application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/118,193 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,096 filed on Jul. 15, 1998; the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.
US Referenced Citations (40)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
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9740756 |
Nov 1997 |
WO |
9825855 |
Jun 1998 |
WO |
Continuations (1)
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09/353127 |
Jul 1999 |
US |
Child |
10/091133 |
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US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
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09/195291 |
Nov 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/353127 |
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US |
Parent |
09/118193 |
Jul 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/195291 |
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US |