Celebrating Nearly 55,000 Downloads as ASE’s EchoGuide™ App Turns One 

Tomorrow, November 9, will mark one year since ASE released its mobile and web application, EchoGuide. In the past year, the FREE calculator and algorithm app has been downloaded nearly 55,000 times!

Download EchoGuide for access to more than 50 easy-to-use calculators, algorithms, and charts based on key ASE guidelines for use by healthcare professionals providing cardiac care. The app is available in the Apple and Google Play stores and on the web!



Enjoying EchoGuide? Let us know by writing a review in the Apple or Android App stores. Potential users will benefit from reading about your favorite app features and how this tool helps you in your day-to-day practice. 

Support the ASE Foundation during GivingTuesday 2023

The ASE Foundation has set its highest ever GivingTuesday fundraising goal: $35,000. Our most ambitious yet, and we need your help to reach it!

The contributions from YOU, our amazing donors, are what allow us to support the cardiovascular ultrasound community and foster the next generation, like this year’s Katanick Scholarship Award Winner, Forrest Zimmerman, who said, “The ASE [Scientific Sessions] surpassed my expectations. The gathering of a myriad of different people, all connected through the heart as it were, whether a doctor, sonographer, vendor, or one of many other disciplines, was a really humbling and wonderful experience. ASE really made me feel like part of a larger family. I attended talks on amyloid and congenital heart abnormalities, specifically CCTGA. As a student, and soon to be a new cardiac sonographer, I really was excited to see the career path possibilities that are available to me moving forward. I would like to learn more about adult congenital and cardiomyopathies and hopefully present what I’ve learned at future ASE gatherings.”

When you support the ASE Foundation, you unleash our power to continue to host educational competitions, offer scholarships to students, and disseminate ASE guideline materials to clinicians worldwide, among other charitable initiatives. Plan to join us for GivingTuesday 2023. Donations will be accepted from November 26 – December 2

A Hearty Harvest of Research: November JASE

The November issue of JASE includes, “Prognostic Signals From Moderate Valve Disease in Big Data: An Artefact of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine Structured Reporting?Author Thomas H. Marwick, MBBS, PhD, MPH, remarks, “Studies using ‘big data’ from echocardiographic databases should take steps to ensure accuracy and validity of data. These databases often derive from the clinical interpretation of many different readers, and the summary numbers are subject to the vicissitudes of how they are exported from the reporting software. The results of this paper suggest that a process of over-reading at least a proportion of the data, to identify potential errors or inconsistencies, is important.”

This issue contains another clinical investigation on data curation and classification of aortic stenosis severity, as well as other reports covering lung ultrasound after fluid challenge to distinguish pulmonary hypertension from heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, and normal values to assess LV filling pressure. Additionally, this issue features a focus topic on tricuspid regurgitation and right atrial and RV pressure, with two clinical investigations and two editorial comments on the topic, as well as a brief research communication on tricuspid regurgitation’s impact on the outcomes score in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Readers can look forward to the American Society of Echocardiography COVID-19 Statement Update: Lessons Learned and Preparation for Future Pandemics as well as a state-of-the-art review on echo patterns of abnormal septal motion. Two additional brief research communications include reports on semiautomated quantification of the tricuspid annulus using 3D echo, and the association between a novel ultrasound-based carotid plaque vulnerability score and long-term cardiovascular outcomes.

Dr. Eidem’s exploration of ASE’s core values continues with this month’s President’s Message, featuring excellence and advancing knowledge, including a research update from Co-Chair of ASE’s Research Committee, Daniel Forsha, MD, MHS, FASE.

Alan S. Pearlman, MD, FASE, and Julius M. Gardin, MD, MBA, FASE, have contributed a thoughtful In Memoriam to their colleague and former ASE President Walter L. Henry, MD, FASE, who passed away in April of 2022. Please see the November ASE Education Calendar for a listing of educational opportunities far and wide.


GE HealthCare’s Strain Imaging in Echocardiography Now Available in the ASE Learning Hub

ASE is pleased to announce that the full series of 10 episodes of GE HealthCare Vivid Learning Academy’s “Strain Imaging in Echocardiography” is now available in the ASE Learning Hub. This resource is free for all active ASE members to access for the next two years. The series features pioneers in the field of strain imaging sharing their experience as well as tips and tricks. Each episode is divided into two sections: a presentation of the topic and then discussions between renowned key opinion leaders, all conveniently accessible through user-friendly video chapters. Episodes range from basics and applications to using strain in disease diagnosis. Learn more and add this series to your Learning Hub activities today!

This is an informational presentation brought to you by GE Healthcare. No credits are available.

Call for ASE Committee Volunteers: Apply Today!

One benefit of your ASE membership is the available opportunities to get involved with the Society and play an active role in shaping the field of cardiovascular ultrasound. Now is the time to apply to become an ASE Committee volunteer! Whether you are a new volunteer interested in serving or you would like to continue serving, log in to your ASE member portal, click on “Membership” on the top menu bar and select “Volunteering” to access the “Committee Interest Application.” The application will remain open through January 5, 2024.



ASE volunteer groups, like Committees, are comprised of current member volunteers who help set standards, develop products, create courses, direct subspecialty activities, advocate for echocardiography, and more! Additionally, your participation offers the opportunity for personal development and connections with others in your field. The term of service for new appointments will be July 2024 – June 2026. Questions? Contact Committees@ASEcho.org

Make Your Pledge for GivingTuesday 2023

GivingTuesday, the Global Day of Giving, is November 28, and this year the ASE Foundation has set its highest ever GivingTuesday fundraising goal: $35,000! Our generous donors have always helped us make great strides towards our goal. This year will surely be the same. Let’s make this the most successful GivingTuesday yet to make sure that ASEF can offer scholarships, global outreach, and research grants in 2024!

If you are planning to donate on GivingTuesday, you can make your pledge now. Your early support will encourage others to join you. Any contribution, big or small, brings us one step closer to our goal. Donations will be accepted on our website November 26 through December 2.



Contact the Foundation at Foundation@ASEcho.org to make your pledge. Want to see what your donations can accomplish? See details from the recent outreach in Vietnam—saving lives through your gifts!

Congratulations to the Winners of ASE’s Echo Image Calendar Competition

Thank you to everyone who uploaded echo images and voted on Connect@ASE during the Image Calendar Competition. Please join us in congratulating the following members whose images have been selected for the 2024 ASE Echo Image Calendar:

  • Bonita Anderson DMU(Cardiac), MAppSc(MedUS), AMS, ACS, FASA, FASE
  • Clara Angulo, MBA, ACS, FASE
  • Cara Bergeron, BS, RDCS, RVT, FASE
  • Scott Coleman, DO, FASE
  • Kelsie Drain, RCS
  • Amanda Finamore, RDCS
  • Karla Kurrelmeyer, MD, FASE
  • John McNeil, MD, FASE
  • Roosha Parikh, MD, FACC, FASE, FSCCT, FSCMR, FASNC, RPVI
  • Alicia Rangosch, ACS, RCCS, RDCS, RVT
  • Madeline Schiminger, MPH, RDCS (AE,PE), FASE

To receive your copy of the 2024 Image Calendar, renew your ASE membership by December 31, 2023.

ASE Releases Updated COVID-19 Statement Guideline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Angie Porter
919-297-7152
APorter@ASEcho.org

American Society of Echocardiography Releases Updated COVID-19 Statement Guideline
The guideline addresses lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and offers new recommendations and guidance to echocardiography laboratories for preparedness in future pandemics

(DURHAM, NC, November 2, 2023)—The COVID-19 pandemic altered the medical landscape and spurred dramatic changes in the practice of echocardiography. While we have moved on from a public health emergency, the emergence of multiple variants makes it an ongoing health issue and an opportune time to reflect on the impact of pandemics.

Considering these developments, the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) released an updated guideline document to address the current state of COVID-19’s impact on echocardiography and to apply lessons learned to echocardiography laboratory operations in future pandemics.

The new guideline, titled American Society of Echocardiography COVID-19 Statement Update: Lessons Learned and Preparation for Future Pandemics, is an update to the Society’s initial statement released in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

The statement offers recommendations on specific indications and decisions about the performance of echocardiography services, infection/transmission mitigation strategies, role of cardiac point-of-care ultrasound/critical care echocardiography, and training in echocardiography, all of which are important areas impacted by current and future pandemics.

“The information included in this guideline will help echocardiography laboratories better plan and prepare by incorporating the lessons we learned the first time around,” says James N. Kirkpatrick, MD, FASE, chair of the guideline writing group. “If in the next pandemic we are once again in contingency or crisis situations, this scientific statement will help direct triage efforts, ensure resources are efficiently employed, and establish plans and protocols helping to prevent staff distress and burnout.”

Additionally, the guideline recognizes the role of professional societies in guiding the development of local policies in conversations between echocardiography laboratory directors and administrators, infection control experts, and staff.

“ASE was one of the first professional societies to offer guidance to echocardiography laboratories around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says ASE Past President (2019-2020) Madhav Swaminathan, MD, FASE, co-chair of the guideline writing group. “The pandemic has evolved since publishing that initial statement, and we have learned that sharing experiences and providing information proactively helps better protect echocardiography service providers and patients.”

This document is a multi-society and multi-national statement comprised of a diverse writing group that includes experts from ASE, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. It is published in the November 2023 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography.

ASE published several earlier COVID-19 statements covering a variety of specific areas, including pediatrics and sonography. View all ASE Guidelines by visiting ASEcho.org/Guidelines.

About American Society of Echocardiography
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit the ASE website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

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FINAL DAYS to Submit Papers for Consideration in 2024 JASE Focus Issue

Deadline: October 30, 2023

Final Call for Papers! The Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE) is considering submissions for a Focus Issue on Precision Imaging in Echocardiography for publication in early 2024. Submit your original research studies, reviews, letters, and brief research communications that address any aspect of precision imaging in adult or pediatric echo to the JASE Editorial Manager by October 30. Please note in your cover letter that the submission is for the Precision Medicine Issue. 

  • Application of quantitative echocardiography, including multidimensional or strain rate imaging, to assess disease severity, guide intervention, and assess or improve patient outcome
  • Implementation of echocardiographic endpoints in clinical trials
  • Artificial intelligence and computer modeling to optimize accuracy, efficiency, and individual benefit from an echocardiogram
  • Pediatric, vascular, and critical care monitoring
  • Molecular imaging
  • Novel applications in cardio-oncology, heart failure, structural heart disease, and preventive cardiology 

In line with our core values at JASE and CASE, we welcome multi-disciplinary collaborations (e.g., sonographers, nurses, physicians, scientists). Questions? Email Debbie Meyer or Andie Piddington.

Echo VOL | 12 Issue 10


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