ABSTRACT
Biennial meetings and structure of the organization The founding of the International Society for Sexual Medicine can be traced back to a couple of meetings that were held in 1978 and 1980. Dr Adrian Zorgniotti, a urologist with a vision for the future for sexual medicine, became aware of some unique reports on the work of a vascular surgeon, Vaclav Michal (Prague, Czechoslovakia), regarding his success stories on restoration of erectile function in patients having pelvic vascular reconstruction. These surgeries had led him to propose revascularization of the corpora cavernosa directly by anastomosis of the inferior epigastric artery to the corpus tissue.1 Zorgniotti, along with his colleague Dr Guiseppe Rossi, decided to host a meeting at their home institution, Cabrini Medical Center, in New York City, in the fall of 1978. Two other groups were also invited to be a focus of the meeting. Dr Jean Fran ç ois Ginesti é (Montpelier, France) was the main presenter for two radiologists who had developed exquisite internal pudendal arteriography studies; and Gorm Wagner (Copenhagen, Denmark) was the presenter for a multidisciplinary group involved in unique diagnostic tests for erectile dysfunction (ED). The interest was so keen after this meeting that it was decided to reassemble after 2 years to see where the science would go. Some of the presentations at this meeting led to the publication of a book, Vascular Impotence : Proceedings of the First International Conference on Corpus Cavernosum Revascularization . 2
The second meeting, entitled The Second International Meeting on Corpus Cavernosum Revascularization, took place in October 1980 in Monaco. At this meeting the group of international physicians and scientists focused on alternatives to vascular surgery for ED. A series of articles that focus on the meetings of this society is being prepared by the authors of this book chapter. The first such article, dealing with the details of these first two meetings, called ‘The Beginnings ’ , will be published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. 3 The breath of developing science in this field can be found in the subjects discussed at these meetings, which included:
• Doppler evaluations of penile arteries • Unique blood flow measurement by clearance method in
the human corpora cavernosa • Incorporation of visual sex stimulation in the evaluation
of ED
• Measurement of bulbocavernosal latency test • Early effects of oral atropine, alpha-blockers, and beta-
blockers on human penile erection • Techniques and pitfalls of phallography (which would
become cavernosography) • Anatomic basis of the corpora cavernosa •Pudendal arteriography • Microvascular surgery techniques • The results of treatment of other vascular disease in the
pelvis as it relates to postoperative sexual dysfunction • A very unusual case of a congenital shunt between the
corpora cavernosa and the glans of the penis • Some ofthe early problems with surgery for arterial
vascularization • A discussion of the drainage system of the penis and how
that might be involved with erection • Complications of the then current vascular surgery.
