Patent 7658762 was granted and assigned to Direct Flow Medical®, Inc. on February, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method of treating a patient utilizes a temporary valve. In one embodiment, an inflatable structure of a temporary valve is inflated at a cardiovascular site in fluid communication with a native valve. At least a portion of the native valve is removed translumenally. A prosthetic valve is deployed to compliment or replace a native valve. The temporary valve is removed.