Abstract: An apparatus and method for directional guidance of a vascular device includes a flexible insertion device terminating in a distal end and a channel formed in the insertion device so as to intersect the distal end. The insertion device comprises an inner guiding catheter and an outer deflecting catheter configured with a tubular wall defining an interior lumen such that the deflecting catheter is positioned coaxially and slidably about the guiding catheter along at least a portion of the lumen, the tubular wall having the channel formed therein so as to communicate with the lumen and intersect the deflecting catheter's distal tip. In use, the distal tip of the deflecting catheter is seated within a body lumen and the guiding catheter is retracted so that a vascular device, approaching from a lateral direction, may then be slidably received within the exposed channel and guided into the body lumen.