About ISSVA

The International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) is the formalization of prior biennial international workshops, which were started in 1976 by Drs. John Mulliken and Anthony Young. The organization is comprised of specialists interested in the diagnosis, management and investigation of Vascular Anomalies. ISSVA was officially founded in 1992, two years after its first International Workshop held in 1990 in Amsterdam. The basic concepts behind the workshops have been maintained over the years as the field burgeoned around the original classification of vascular anomalies developed, revised and codified by ISSVA. 

Today, the ISSVA workshops, held all over the world, gather hundreds of international specialists of various medical, surgical and interventional disciplines involved in the treatment of patients afflicted with vascular anomalies. These biennial workshops have fostered time proven personal contacts, collaboration, and informal exchange of scientific knowledge concerning vascular anomalies. The ISSVA membership is comprised of dedicated physicians, scientists, and nurses who attend the workshops and support the fundamental mission of the organization to improve the lives of patients with vascular anomalies. 

Vascular anomalies are a group of common and rare disorders of blood vessel growth leading to identifiable vascular lesions and their associated deformities. The official language of the Society is English, and the Society is governed by the law of the United States of America.