Expandable stent having removable slat members

A vascular medical device comprising:

• an expandable stent which takes the form of a hollow tubular member comprised of an expandable wire frame having a peripheral surface;
• a plurality of elongated removable slat members carried by said hollow tubular member and providing a substantially continuous cover for the peripheral surface of said hollow tubular member such that said substantially continuous cover impedes the flow of blood through the peripheral surface of said medical device when deployed within a blood vessel, wherein each slat member has a circumferential width greater than its wall thickness;
• and
• a plurality of tethers attached to each of said removable slat members so that one of said tethers may be pulled to remove one of said slat members from said hollow tubular member to re-establish patency in a branching vessel while impeding blood flow through other portions of said medical device.

A method of treating an aneurysm comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing an expandable stent which takes the form of a skeletal tubular member having a peripheral surface and a plurality of removable slat members each carried by said skeletal tubular member to provide a substantially continuous cover for said peripheral surface, wherein each slat member has a circumferential width greater than its wall thickness;
• (b) inserting said expandable stent into a blood vessel of a patient;
• (c) advancing said expandable stent through said blood vessel until said expandable stent is aligned with and covering an aneurysm in said blood vessel such that said substantially continuous cover impedes the flow of blood through the peripheral surface of said expandable stent when deployed within a blood vessel;
• and
• (d) selectively removing one or more of said plurality of removable slat members by moving the tether attached to said removable slat member proximally and thus allowing blood flow to a branching blood vessel.