Patent ID: 8133213

Claim:
A method of treating a patient with a calcified aortic valve, the method comprising: introducing a guide wire into a blood vessel; advancing the guide wire through the aorta to the aortic valve; advancing the guide wire through the aortic valve; introducing a balloon dilatation catheter into the blood vessel over the guide wire, the balloon dilatation catheter comprising an elongate body, a distal portion, a guide wire lumen, an inflation lumen, a dilatation balloon, at least one deflection wire lumen, the at least one deflection wire lumen having a distal opening proximal the distal portion, at least one deflection wire residing in the at least one deflection wire lumen and having a distal end attached to the distal portion; advancing the balloon dilatation catheter over the guide wire through the aorta; pushing the deflection wire towards the distal portion so that the deflection wire bows outward without inflating the dilatation balloon; advancing the balloon dilatation catheter with a bowed outward deflection wire through the aortic valve; and inflating the dilatation balloon.