eptfe and then placing a second tubular member of unsintered eptfe coaxially over the stent so that the stent is sandwiched between two layers of eptfe radial force is applied either internally or externally to force the first tubular member into contact with the stent and into contact with the second tubular members through openings in the stent or respectively to force the second tubular into contact with the stent and into contact with the first tubular member through openings in the stent finally the compound structure is exposed to an elevated temperature to bond the first tubular member to the second tubular member wherever they are pressed into contact in one embodiment an adhesive spread between the tubular members achieves the bonding in a preferred embodiment the elevated temperature is a sintering temperature above the crystalline melting point of ptfe and direct ptfe to ptfe bonds form as mentioned above a potential drawback of this approach is that when the radial dimensions of the stent change movement of components of the stent necessary for radial dimensional changes may be impeded by surrounding eptfe if the stent is encapsulated in an expanded form and then reduced in diameter prior to insertion into a patient the encapsulating eptfe may significantly increase the force needed to compress the stent and may fold in a manner.