Patent ID: 7974710

Claim:
A guide catheter for introducing a cardiac lead having a distal fixation mechanism through a pathway from an incision to an implantation site relative to a heart chamber, comprising: an elongated catheter body extending between a catheter body proximal end and a catheter body distal end, the catheter body having a catheter body sidewall and comprising a proximal portion and a distal leader extending distally from a distal end of the proximal portion; the catheter body sidewall enclosing a guide lumen having a guide lumen axis and extending between a guide lumen entry port and the catheter body distal end, the guide lumen diameter sized to receive a guide tool inserted therein to aid in steering the guide catheter body through the pathway; the proximal portion of the catheter body sidewall enclosing a delivery lumen having a delivery lumen axis and extending between a delivery lumen entry port and a delivery lumen exit port through the catheter body sidewall proximal to the distal leader; the delivery lumen axis and the guide lumen axis extending in a side-by-side manner along a first segment of the proximal portion and defining a first geometric axis plane; and the proximal portion of the catheter body sidewall having a cross-sectional shape comprising a first substantially flat major side extending along a second segment of the proximal portion of the catheter body in a plane that is transverse to the first geometric axis plane to cause the proximal portion of the catheter body to preferentially bend as the catheter body tracks a contour of the heart, the catheter body preferentially bending in a direction that the delivery lumen exit port is oriented to thereby bias the delivery lumen exit port toward the heart during advancement through the pathway to facilitate passage of the fixation mechanism of the cardiac lead through a vessel wall into the myocardium; wherein the first segment is a distal segment of the proximal portion extending to the delivery lumen exit port; the delivery lumen axis and the guide lumen axis extending in a side-by-side manner along a third segment of the proximal portion, the third segment proximal to the first segment; the delivery lumen axis and the guide lumen axis extending along the third segment defining a second geometric axis plane transverse to the first geometric axis plane.