Dr. Francine Blei directs the NYU Medical Center’s Vascular Anomalies Program at Hassenfeld which attracts nearly 500 new patients every year with vascular lesions that range from simple “birthmarks” to large disfiguring masses.

Given the relative rarity of the more serious vascular anomalies, most physicians have little experience in managing them. NYU Medical Center is one of very few referral centers in the tri-state area for patients with hemangiomas and vascular malformations.

Physicians affiliated with the NYU Vascular Anomalies Program collectively follow over 4,000 patients affected by vascular anomalies.

Hassenfeld and the NYU Medical Center are committed to providing excellent care and conducting the latest clinical research for all patients with vascular anomalies. The Vascular Anomalies Program provides expert care to patients diagnosed with vascular anomalies by a multidisciplinary health care team that includes hematologists, radiologists, surgeons, dermatologists, other physicians, and other health care professionals. Patients benefit from being able to consult with a comprehensive team of expert doctors in one room.

Clinical research is an important part of the Vascular Anomalies Program and for developing new treatments for vascular malformations. During the past year alone, the NYU Vascular Anomalies Program has joined two multi-center national research studies and opened a new radiologic study at NYUMC, Radiologic Findings in PHACE Syndrome.

Dr. Blei also works in conjunction with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in an effort to include vascular anomalies on citywide birth registries, in order to identify possible trends in geographic clustering and to facilitate prompt referral of at-risk patients to appropriate specialists.

The Vascular Anomalies Program physicians have presented findings at national and international meetings and have published papers in leading medical journals. The group has initiated research projects with experts from other institutions in an effort to understand possible genetic clues to some of these lesions. Our physicians have authored chapters on vascular anomalies in Textbook of Interventional Radiology and Peripheral Vascular Disease.

The Vascular Anomalies Program, in collaboration with the Epilepsy Center and the Pediatric Neurosurgery Service, is currently one of few Centers of Excellence for Sturge Weber Syndrome. The NYU Medical Center’s Vascular Anomalies Program is nationally recognized as a major referral center by the National Organization for Vascular Anomalies, Vascular Birthmark Foundation, Sturge Weber Foundation, and the Klippel Trenaunay Support Group.

The program is recognized for excellence in medical and surgical intervention for these disorders. Dr. Blei serves on the medical advisory board of several of these national foundations and groups. She has published numerous articles, reviews, and book chapters on these conditions; currently Dr. Blei is the Associate Editor of the journal Lymphatic Research and Biology.