Archives for January 2024
Echo VOL | 13 Issue 1
Watch the Free Microlessons in Echocardiography & HCM Series
The Complete Series is Now Available!
ASE’s Microlessons in Echocardiography and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a free online series for anyone interested in learning more about this commonly inherited cardiomyopathy that is often difficult to diagnose. The Microlessons include 15 short learning modules explaining how echocardiography can help assess patients with HCM and determine treatment options. The final module, How to Perform Strain in Patients with HCM, was uploaded to the Microlessons Playlist on ASE’s YouTube channel in December 2023.
Plan Now to Attend ASE’s 35th Annual Scientific Sessions
Register and Reserve Your Hotel Room
Registration and housing are open for ASE’s 35th Annual Scientific Sessions, and members who register early can SAVE! Join colleagues, peers, friends, and fellow echo enthusiasts June 14-16, 2024, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. Download and view the Conference at a Glance for a sneak Peek at ASE 2024’s new, condensed and interactive format.
There are two ways to attend:
- ASE 2024 In-Person: Registration includes up to 20.75 CME/MOC credits. ASE Members who register by May 8, 2024, can save up to $225!
- ASE 2024 Virtual: Registration includes live streaming from multiple track rooms and up to 19.5 CME/MOC credits.
Learn more about the available hotel accommodations and book your room after registering.
Apply for Co-Director and Co-Chair Positions for ASE’s Live In-Person and Virtual Courses
Application Deadline: February 12
Along with Course Directors and Chairs, Course Co-Directors and Co-Chairs are instrumental in the implementation and success of live and virtual courses. All applications for available positions can be submitted now through February 12. The ASE Education Committee will review applications and make recommendations to the ASE Executive Committee, who will make the final selection.
ASE Course Co-Director Application
It is current policy that the Co-Director becomes the Course Director after two years and will then serve as the Course Director for two years. The application process for Course Co-Director beginning in 2026 and serving through 2027 is now open for the following ASE courses:
- Echo Hawaii
- State-of-the-Art Echocardiography
- Review Course Virtual Experience
- Echo Florida
ASE Virtual Co-Chair Application
It is current policy that the Co-Chair becomes the Course Chair after one year, and then will serve as the Course Chair for one year. The application process applies to the following ASE virtual Courses:
- Advanced Imaging Techniques Virtual Experience
- Echo in Pediatric & Congenital Heart Disease
Download the FREE Echo for “Cardiac Amyloidosis” Poster
ASE offers a variety of echocardiography and cardiac amyloidosis (CA) resources to help diagnose, treat, and manage the disease. Our latest available resource is a new, FREE poster, focusing on the common echocardiographic imaging findings of CA and red flags that should raise suspicion for its diagnosis. It offers practical points for image acquisition and interpretation, and outlines recommendations for standard reporting of an echocardiogram in a patient with CA. This resource was developed with support from Pfizer Inc. and was created from an article published in the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography titled, “Practical Points for Echocardiography in Cardiac Amyloidosis.”
Interested in ASE Membership for Everyone in Your Lab?
Enroll in ASE’s Organizational Membership!
ASE’s Organizational Membership program is available to companies, labs, and hospitals interested in joining ASE in a simplified, cost-effective way. It enables multiple individuals to easily join ASE at the same time and eliminates the need for individual member applications. Additionally, the program conveniently allows all members to be paid using one invoice and offers a cost saving benefit—for every five new memberships, the sixth membership is FREE.
Each member included in the organizational membership will receive access to the same benefits all ASE members enjoy. Interested? Submit an Organizational Membership application, or contact the ASE Membership Department by emailing ASE@ASEcho.org to learn more.
Benefits of Applying for ASE’s FASE Designation
First 2024 FASE Deadline: February 1
Fellows of the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE) exemplify excellence in the field of cardiovascular ultrasound through education, research, leadership, and volunteerism. In addition to being ambassadors for ASE, the credential recognizes the many contributions of experts in the field. Physicians, sonographers/allied health professionals, and scientists/researchers each have requirements determining their eligibility to apply, but all recipients who achieve Fellowship status enjoy a variety of benefits.
The December 2023 issue of Echo magazine features an article titled, Sonographer Career Pathways to FASE: How Can FASE Help Achieve Career Goals and Open Opportunities?, and includes an interview with Chair of the FASE-Training and Certification Advisory Committee, Jennifer Warmsbecker, BS, RDCS, FASE, who offers tips, tools, and insight on the benefits of being a FASE sonographer and how to achieve this goal.
The 2024 application deadlines are the first day of February, April, June, August, October, and December. Questions? Contact FASE@ASEcho.org.
ASE Advocacy Update: CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule
ASE has been working to fight prior authorization on behalf of our members and joined several coalitions, including the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, to advance this issue. There has been progress with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) action today! The CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule has been finalized. The rule sets requirements for Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) fee-for-service (FFS) programs, Medicaid managed care plans, CHIP managed care entities, and issuers of Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) offered on the Federally-Facilitated Exchanges (FFEs), to improve the electronic exchange of health information and prior authorization processes for medical items and services. Most of these changes will take effect in 2026.
Please see the CMS press release for more information, https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-finalizes-rule-expand-access-health-information-and-improve-prior-authorization-process
The fact sheet for this final rule is available here: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/cms-interoperability-and-prior-authorization-final-rule-cms-0057-f
January CASE: A Fresh Flurry of Reports
The latest issue of CASE is now available with intriguing reports, including “Heart Failure after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: Application of the Most Impactful Strain Imaging Techniques” by Burke et al. Author Gordon M. Burke, MD, remarked, “Strain imaging provides powerful prognostic value over routine echo measures. Quantitative strain assessments, such as global longitudinal strain and mechanical dispersion, as well as qualitative strain assessments, such as segmental strain curves, can yield meaningful clinical insight regarding underlying cardiac pathology. Our case report presents the clinical application of these techniques in determining the etiology of a patient’s acute decline following a transcatheter aortic valve implantation and in guiding subsequent clinical management.”
In a second Echo Innovation report, authors offer their approach to intracardiac echo as an alternative to TEE when guiding mitral valve edge-to-edge repair. This issue presents two cases in Congenital Heart Disease, including a rare finding of a small aortopulmonary window as the key to survival in a fetus with pulmonary atresia, and an infantile echo report on the cause of reverse differential cyanosis from suprasternal color flow Doppler images. Multimodality Imaging offers two reports, one highlighting advanced imaging techniques in a patient with Loeffler’s endocarditis, and another comparing the imaging findings of echo, CT, and CMR, with the actual surgical pathology of a large RA myxoma. Finally, Veterinary Clinical Cardiovascular Medicine contains a report on the pathology of a double-outlet right atrium in a cat, which is the same in animals as it is in humans.
Dr. Sorrell’s editorial is a continuation of his Sonographer Sound-Off series, recognizing the important contributions of sonographers to both CASE and the Society as a whole, while also addressing some of the insightful sonographer-submitted questions posed during his time as Editor-in-Chief.
Looking for a journal to submit your case report to? We want to hear from you! Email us with questions or submit your report today. Be sure to check out the latest Sonographer Sound-Off and Unlock the CASE features on the CASE Homepage to view more extraordinary work from your colleagues.
Become an ASE Member Ambassador!
ASE membership runs on a calendar year, so now is the perfect time to recruit new members to join the Society! Referring new members helps create a stronger community of collaboration and increases members’ networks. Become an ASE Ambassador and help strengthen the field of cardiovascular ultrasound!
Check out our Member Recruiting Toolkit with templates and tips to help you reach out to friends and colleagues. Twenty-one members received a complimentary ASE membership for 2023 by referring five or more new members! Contact Membership Recruitment Manager Christine Gil with questions.