A stent and method comprising inserting within a vessel an unexpanded stent that includes a first zone comprising a plurality of adjacent ring elements, not less than three in number, that are distributed along the stent with a first spacing, and a second zone comprising a plurality of adjacent ring elements that are distributed along the stent with a second spacing, and expanding the stent to cause the plurality of ring elements in the first zone to redistribute to a third spacing that is smaller than the first spacing and to cause ring elements in the second zone to distribute to a fourth spacing larger than the first spacing.
