STENT GRAFT SEALING ZONE CONNECTING STRUCTURE

摘要

An endoluminal prosthesis useful for treatment of an abdominal aortic aneury sm includes a main body portion and two leg portions. The main body portion includes a graft material coupled to stents. The stents include an upper supra renal stent and sealing stents. The sealing length between the top of the graft material and the bottom of the uppermost sealing stent is minimized while avoiding stent overlap or otherwi se compromising the crimped profile by connecting the apexes of the supra renal and sealing stents with a tether that is free to slide within the apexes. In addition, a pleat is provided at the top of the graft material at the attachment of the suprarena l and upper sealing stents to improve sealing. The tether and pleat also redistribute th e downward force from blood flow to minimize the force carried by the attachment sites between the stent and graft.