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Stents-grafts designed for deployment in blood vessels (i.e., endoprostheses) to bypass injured or diseased vessel sections while maintaining patency within the vasculature. These devices typically consist of one or more metal, meshlike stent tubes covered with a synthetic (e.g., polyurethane, Dacron) or biomaterial (e.g., native vein) graft. They are available in several different shapes (e.g., straight, bifurcated) to adapt to particular sections of the vasculature and to prevent migration. The stents may be either balloon-expandable or self-expanding. Vascular stent-grafts are used mainly to treat aneurysms and/or to repair vessel perforations or ruptures; some are used to keep strictures of the vessels open and/or to reduce vascular narrowing (i.e., restenosis) after angioplastic procedures.
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