Patent ID: 9610182
Date: 2017-04-04
CPC Classifications: A61F,A61P

Claim:
1. A method, of treating disease involving branching blood vessels of a mammal, comprising: (a) advancing distally in a first blood vessel of a mammal a main graft assembly having a main lumen and comprising: a main cover having a main cover lumen; and an expandable main stent extending within the main cover; (b) advancing through the first blood vessel a branch graft assembly having a branch lumen comprising: a branch cover integral with the main cover and having a branch cover lumen; an expandable branch stent having a branch stent lumen and positioned within the branch cover lumen; and a branch sheath (i) positioned fully over the expandable branch stent and beneath the branch cover, and (ii) constraining radial expansion of the branch stent; wherein distal movement of the branch sheath within the branch cover lumen is inhibited by an attachment of the expandable branch stent to the branch cover along at least a part of a perimeter of the branch cover while said branch graft assembly is being advanced through the first vessel and into the branch vessel; wherein the branch graft assembly is constrained to lie substantially in parallel against the main graft assembly by an outer sheath while the main graft assembly and the branch graft assembly are being advanced through the first vessel; (c) retracting the outer sheath from over the main graft assembly and the branch graft assembly to laterally release the branch graft assembly from the main graft assembly and into a branch vessel that branches from the first vessel; and (d) advancing the branch graft assembly into the branch vessel after the outer sheath has been retracted; (e) retracting the branch sheath proximally to permit expansion of the branch stent and branch cover such that the branch cover contacts a wall of the branch vessel; and (f) further retracting the branch sheath proximally within the main cover lumen to remove the branch sheath from the first blood vessel.