the present invention is best understood by first starting with a description of the environment in which the invention operates . as shown in fig1 and 2 , to place the coronary sinus introducer 20 of the present invention in the body , it is first required that a guide wire 12 be inserted into the jugular vein 14 to travel along the jugular vein to the superior vena cava 15 of the heart and into the right atrium 16 and into the vicinity of the coronary sinus 17 at the coronary sinus opening 17a within the right atrium . the guide wire 12 is placed in the jugular vein 14 through the use of the seldinger technique . this technique may be used for gaining arterial or venous access . it involves locating the vessel by palpation and entering it with a locator needle through the skin ( percutaneous insertion ). once the vessel is entered , the guide wire 12 is inserted through the needle ( not shown ) and the needle is removed . this procedure can be done quickly , does not require surgical incision and preserves the site of insertion for future procedures . the superior vena cava returns blood from the upper half of the body , and opens into the upper and posterior part of the atrium . its orifice is directed downward and forward and has no valve . the coronary sinus 17 returns the greater part of the blood from the substance of the heart . its opening 17a is placed between the orifice of the inferior vena cava and the atrioventricular opening , and is protected by a thin , semi - circular valve , termed the valve of the coronary sinus , which covers the lower part of the orifice . it prevents the regurgitation of blood into the sinus during the contraction of the atrium . this valve may be double or it may be cribriform . placement of the coronary sinus introducer 20 of the present invention is best seen through the series of fig3 through 7 . as shown in fig3 the guide wire 12 is first introduced into the cardiovascular system through the jugular vein 14 and then through the superior vena cava 15 to place its distal end in the vicinity of the coronary sinus opening 17a . then the dilator 18 receives the coronary introducer 20 in a manner to be described in more detail below , then the dilator and introducer combination descend along the guide wire 12 through the jugular vein 14 , through the superior vena cava 15 and into the right atrium 16 to the position shown in fig3 in which the guide wire 12 with its distal end 12a , the dilator 18 with its tip or distal end 18a and the introducer 20 with its tip or distal end 20a are all in the right atrium in the vicinity of the coronary sinus opening 17a . in fig4 guidewire 12 has been removed from the combination of dilator 18 and introducer 20 to leave dilator tip end 18a and introducer end 20a in the vicinity of the coronary sinus opening 17a within the right atrium 16 . in fig5 coronary sinus introducer 20 with its tip end 20a is shown in the right atrium . introducer 20 is bent at bend or bent section 22 to place tip end 20a of the introducer in the vicinity of the coronary sinus opening 17a . in fig5 the dilator 18 , which is a relatively stiff straight member , has been removed from the coronary sinus introducer 20 and the bent section 22 has been restored to the coronary sinus introducer to tilt it toward the opening 17a of the coronary sinus 17 and to enable the introducer tip end 20a to be placed within the coronary sinus 17 as shown in fig6 . in fig7 a coronary sinus catheter 40 has been delivered into the coronary sinus of the patient . the structure of the coronary sinus catheter introducer system of the present invention is best understood by references to fig8 - 11 . at the top of fig8 is shown the guide wire 12 which is essentially a long metallic coiled wire preferably made of a metal which will not interact with body fluids , such as stainless steel . as shown in fig8 and 9 , dilator 18 is a relatively stiff member having a luer fitting 23 at one end with a longitudinal rod 24 extending from the luer fitting 22 . the longitudinal rod 24 is approximately 30 - 40 centimeters inches in length and is preferably made of a material which will not interact with body fluids such as a relatively stiff polyurethane material . the rod 24 includes a central longitudinal bore 24a . the rod 24 receives a coating 24b , also preferably made of a material non - reactive with body fluids , such as polyurethane . the dilator 18 is relatively inflexible , and is expected to follow a path from the jugular vein 14 , into the superior vena cava 15 and thereafter into the right atrium 16 of the heart . the luer fitting 23 receives an end cap ( not shown ) during installation of the dilator - introducer combination in the right atrium to minimize blood loss therethrough . the introducer 20 comprises a longitudinal tubular main body portion 26 having a luer fitting 28 at a proximal end thereof . similarly , the luer fitting 28 receives an end cap ( not shown ) which may be received following removal of the guide wire and dilator and prior to catheter installation to minimize blood loss through the tube 26 . luer fitting 28 also includes an eyelet 28a for a purpose to be described later . the main body portion 26 is a relatively inflexible longitudinal plastic tube having a pleated section 26a at its proximal end to give some flexibility to the introducer 20 at the junction at the tube 26 and the luer fitting 28 . also a soft plastic bumper 26b is provided at the distal end of the plastic tube 26 to prevent abrasive contact between the coronary sinus 17 and the coronary sinus opening 17a and the introducer 20 when the distal end 20a of the introducer 20 is placed within the coronary sinus 17 . the bend 22 at the distal end 20a of the coronary sinus introducer 20 is shown in more detail in fig1 . the distal end 20a of the introducer 20 includes the bumper 26b and extends about 2 - 4 centimeters beyond the bent section 22 at an angle between 30 °- 45 ° from the longitudinal axis of the tube 26 . it is the purpose of the dilator 18 to take the bend 22 out of the introducer 20 during the placement of the coronary sinus introducer within the body of the patient as shown in fig3 - 7 . therefore , as shown in fig1 , when the dilator 18 is fully extended to place its tip end 18a beyond the bumper 26b at the distal end of the tube 26 , the tube 26 is fully aligned along its longitudinal axis to remove the bend 22 from the introducer 20 . moreover there is a tight tolerance between the pliable bumper 26b of the introducer 20 and the dilator 18 to minimize blood loss to the patient through the interface between the dilator outer face and the inner face of the introducer body . when the dilator 18 is removed from the coronary sinus introducer 20 , the bend 22 returns to the coronary sinus introducer to enable placement of its end 20a in the coronary sinus opening 17a . although the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment , other embodiments can achieve the same results . variations and modifications of the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover in the apended claims all such modifications and equivalents . the entire disclosures of all applications , patents , and publications cited above , and of the corresponding application are hereby incorporated by reference .
a coronary sinus catheter introducer system in which an introducer is installed in the right atrium of the cardiovascular system of a patient for delivery of a coronary sinus catheter into the coronary sinus . a bend near the distal end of the introducer enables placement of the end of the introducer into the coronary sinus opening and within the coronary sinus . a soft pliable tip end provided on the introducer minimizes abrasion of the coronary sinus and its opening by the introducer .