Patent ID: 8403978

Claim:
A tubular prosthesis with a longitudinal axis, that is radially expandable from a radially compact delivery disposition to a radially larger deployed disposition, the prosthesis comprising: a succession of turns around the axis, which turns are helical or endless discrete loops each having an axial length direction, adjacent turns being connected by connector portions distributed around the circumference of the prosthesis, each of the turns being made up of struts that extend the length of the turn and are interspersed by inflection points located at the axial ends of each of the said turns such that, when the prosthesis expands radially, gaps open up between adjacent inflection points of each of the turns, wherein the gaps comprise regular gaps that are substantially the same size as each other around the circumference of the turn; at least every other of said turns exhibits at least one stagger zone gap between adjacent said inflection points, wherein a stagger zone gap is of an individual size different from that common to said regular gaps of that turn, wherein a stagger zone is formed between said inflection points forming said stagger zone gap and said inflection points of an opposing gap of an adjacent turn; one of said connector portions connects a first turn and a second turn and corresponds to the confluence of a first pair of struts in said first turn and a second pair of struts in said second turn, wherein an individual angle between said first pair of struts is smaller than an angle between said second pair of struts in the deployed disposition; whereby the inflection points in said first turn that lie circumferentially next to the stagger zone are circumferentially displaced out of facing relationship with the corresponding points of inflection in the adjacent turn.