History of the International Society of Sexual Medicine (ISSM)- The beginnings

Introduction. This is the first article in a series of articles outlining the history of what became the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM). Aim. This first article deals with the beginning meetings of the group of world scientists who first met to discuss corpus cavernosal revascularization and other new ideas regarding the etiology and treatment for impotence (as it was known then) in New York City in 1978, and subsequently in Monaco in 1980. Methods. Strict adherence to documented historical sources including books published from the meeting, published peer review literature where appropriate, programs from the actual meetings, detailed written notes by the authors taken at the time of the meetings, and letters of correspondence between key members of these meetings were used in preparing this historical review. The memories of the two authors, although still good in their opinion, did not serve as the source of the material that is presented. Results. This first meeting was the impetus for the third meeting to be held 2 years later in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1982. This meeting and the subsequent meetings in 1984 and 1986 in Paris, France and Prague, Czechoslovakia, respectively, became the formative years for the budding society, which will serve as the time format for the authors' next article. Conclusions. This article outlines the discussions that occurred at these two meetings and presents a history of this early society that would eventually become the ISSM.