Archives for September 2014

You asked for it. We delivered! ASE is excited to announce the “ASE Guideline Reference E-Book.”  The online book offers a collection of charts and illustrations derived from ASE’s guidelines for cardiovascular ultrasound.  It comes in a convenient format for quick reference and is designed to immediately accommodate new inserts as they are published.  Seventy percent of our current Guideline Reference Book users agreed that this book is helpful and useful in their daily practices.  As one of our members recently let us know, “This ASE Reference Book is simply a cornerstone for echocardiography interpretation.” Now, being able to access the ASE Guideline Reference Book online means it is just a click away!

Login to www.ASEUniversity.org to purchase your “ASE Guideline Reference E-Book” for a yearly subscription of only $75.

The Echo Florida course is one of our most popular and combines a great mix of education and location-specific fun. You can maintain your CME and stay up-to-date in the ever-changing field of cardiovascular ultrasound by participating in this course. Course Director, Michael H. Picard, MD, FASE, has put together a program that will leave you feeling more prepared and refreshed going back to your practice. The 3rd Annual Echo Florida course will take place October 12 – 14 at Disney’s Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World, FL. To start out, a special preconference is offered on October 11 featuring point of care learning. This session gives you the opportunity for plenty of hands-on training in a small group setting; separate registration is required. Following this preconference, you’ll experience a three-day comprehensive echo course featuring expert faculty discussing strengths and limitations of established and emerging technologies and illustrating how these technologies can be used to improve and streamline patient care in a cost conscious manner. ASE listened to previous attendees’ suggestions and needs to develop Echo Florida’s new jam-packed schedule. The conference now includes:

• Coronary artery disease, including stress testing
• Valvular heart disease
• Heart failure (systolic and diastolic) and cardiomyopathy
• Emerging technologies including contrast, 3D/4D echocardiography, and strain imaging
• Complex congenital heart disease
• Case-based demonstrations on role of 2D and real time 3D/4D echocardiography to select, guide, and follow percutaneous structural heart disease interventions such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement and percutaneous mitral valve repair

Learn more and register today by visiting www.asecho.org/echoflorida or downloading the Preliminary Program.

Summer may be over, but JASE is still heating things up! The October issue is now online with its focus topic of left ventricular volumes and systolic function, and includes three articles on this subject. “Assessment of Left Ventricular Volumes with Echocardiography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Real-Life Evaluation of Standard versus New Semiautomatic Methods,” “Diagnostic Value of Three-Dimensional Contrast-Enhanced Echocardiography for Left Ventricular Volume and Ejection Fraction Measurement in Patients with Poor Acoustic Windows: A Comparison of Echocardiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging,” and “Three-Dimensional Principal Strain Analysis for Characterizing Subclinical Changes in Left Ventricular Function.” Zoran B. Popovic, MD, PhD, and James D. Thomas, MD, FASE, have provided editorial comment on the strain article in their piece, “Toward Understanding the Interaction between Structure and Function: An Echocardiographic Story.”

On Friday, September 12, ASE Foundation (ASEF) is hosting the Value-Based Healthcare: Summit 2014. It’s not too late to join leaders from ASE and others across the healthcare spectrum to help shape the discussion about how cardiac imaging, and specifically echo, will provide superior value in the new world of ACO’s, bundled payments, etc. The event will be held in Washington, D.C. prior to TCT and American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) Legislative Conference. Registration is free to ASE members and will include interactive sessions and opportunities to network. Even just dropping-in for a portion of the Summit will provide a benefit! Get all the details, including a video link showing a preview of the topics, and register for this ASEF event at www.asecho.org/summit2014.

Do you have a teacher whose impact you can still feel?  ASE is looking for an excellent instructor to honor at 26th Annual Scientific Sessions in Boston, MA, on June 13-16, 2015. Please consider nominating your mentor for this prestigious award:

• Richard Popp Excellence in Teaching Award

The deadline for nominations is November 30, 2014.  Please contact awards@asecho.org with any questions. Detailed criteria and a list of former recipients are available on the ASE Awards Page

Recognize your outstanding peers at ASE 2015! The ASE Nominating Committee is now accepting nominations for the 2015 Feigenbaum Lecturer who will present during the 26th Annual Scientific Sessions in Boston, MA, on June 13-16, 2015. The deadline for nominations is October 24, 2014.  Nominated individuals should fit these qualifications in order to receive this prestigious honor:

• Has provided a significant contribution to research in the field of echocardiography, with great potential to continue at a high level of achievement
• Must be a Fellow of ASE (FASE) at time of nomination
• A young investigator (under age 51 or within 10 years of first faculty appointment at time of nomination)
• Has the ability to present a research topic appropriate to headline a plenary symposium at the Society’s annual meeting

Detailed criteria and a list of former recipients and their topics are available on the ASE Awards Page.